Knee pain is a common complaint for many people. There are several factors that can cause knee pain. Awareness and knowledge of the causes of knee pain lead to a more accurate diagnosis. Management of knee pain is in the accurate diagnosis and effective treatment for that diagnosis. Knee pain can be either referred pain or related to the knee joint itself.
Knee joint consists of an articulation between four bones: the femur, tibia, fibula and patella. There are four compartments to the knee. These are the medial and lateral tibiofemoral compartments, the patellofemoral compartment and the superior tibiofibular joint. The components of each of these compartements can suffer from repetitive strain, injury or disease.
Some common injuries related to knee-pain include:
- Sprain (Ligament sprain).
- Tear of meniscus.
- Strain (Muscle strain).
- Hemarthrosis. Hemarthrosis tends to develop over a relatively short period after injury, from several minutes to a few hours.
Othe knee-pain causes include diseases, inflammation, deformities, dislocation and fractures.
Some of the diseases that can cause knee-pain include:
- Knee osteoarthritis
- Chondromalacia patella
- Baker's cyst
- Meniscal cyst
- Discoid meniscus
- Knee rheumatoid arthritis
- Tuberculosis arthritis
- Septic arthritis (Pyogenic arthritis)
- Osteomyelitis
- Hemophilic arthritis
- Gout (Gouty arthritis)
Inflammations as another source of knee-pain can be categorized as:
- Bursitis of the knee
- Tendinitis
- Synovitis of the knee
Knee deformities are also among the other sources of knee-pain, some of these knee deformities incldue:
- Genu varum
- Genu valgum
- Genu recurvatum (Knee hyperextension)
- Knee flexion deformity
- Bipartite patella
Knee Fractures are also among most painful knee related disorders:
- Femoral fracture
- Tibial fracture
- Patella fracture
Dislocations
- Patella dislocation
- Knee joint dislocation (Tibiofemoral joint dislocation)
Referred pain is that pain perceived at a site different from its point of origin but innervated by the same spinal segment. Sometimes knee pain may be related to another area from body. For example, knee pain can come from ankle, foot, hip joints or lumbar spine.
There is also a hereditary disease, familial cold autoinflammatory syndrome (FCAS), which often features knee pain, in addition to hives, fever and pain in other joints.
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