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Joint disease

Noninflammatory joint diseases: injury and degenerative disorders

Traumatic joint diseases

Blunt injuries to joints vary in severity from mild sprains to overt fractures and dislocations. A sprain is ligament, tendon, or muscle damage that follows a sudden wrench and momentary incomplete dislocation (subluxation) of a joint. There is some slight hemorrhage into these tissues, and healing usually takes place in several days. More-violent stresses may cause tears in ligaments and tendons. Because the ligaments and tendons are so strong, they frequently are torn from their bony attachments rather than ripped into segments. Ligamentous, tendinous, and capsular tears are able to heal by fibrous union, provided that the edges are not totally separated from each other. Internal derangements of the knee most often arise from tears in the semilunar cartilages (menisci). Usually it is the medial meniscus that is disrupted. These tears are particularly frequent in athletes and develop as the knee is twisted while the foot remains fixed on the ground. Locking of the knee is a characteristic symptom. Because the semilunar cartilages have little capacity for repair, they must be removed surgically. Bleeding into the joint, called hemarthrosis, may also result from injuries.

Most traumatic dislocations are treated by prolonged immobilization to permit the capsular and other tears to heal. In some instances, surgical repairs are required. Fractures of bone in the vicinity of joints may or may not extend into the joint space. Whether they do or not, the normal contour of the joint must be restored or arthritic complications are likely to develop.

Degenerative joint disease

Osteoarthritis is a ubiquitous disorder affecting all adults to a greater or lesser degree by the time they have reached middle age. The name osteoarthritis is a misnomer insofar as its suffix implies that the condition has an inherently inflammatory nature. For this reason it frequently is called degenerative joint disease, osteoarthrosis, or arthrosis deformans. When the spine is involved, the corresponding term is spondylosis. Unlike rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis is not a systemic disease and rarely causes crippling deformities. In the majority of instances, the milder anatomical changes are not accompanied by appreciable symptoms. The changes are characterized by abrasive wearing away of the articular cartilage concurrent with a reshaping of adjacent ends of the bones. As a result, masses of newly proliferated bone (osteophytes) protrude from the margins of the joints.

The clinical manifestations of osteoarthritis vary with the location and severity of the lesions. The most disabling form of the disorder occurs in the hip joint, where it is known as malum coxae senilis. Osteoarthritis of the hip, like that of other joints, is classified as primary or secondary. In secondary osteoarthritis the changes occur as a consequence of some antecedent structural or postural abnormality of the joint. In about half the cases, however, even rigorous examination fails to disclose such an abnormality; in these instances the osteoarthritis is called primary.

Probably the most frequent cause of osteoarthritis of the hip is congenital dysplasia (dislocation or subluxation of the hip). This term refers to a poor fit of the head of the femur, the long bone of the thigh, with its socket in the pelvis, the acetabulum. There is evidence that many cases arise in infancy as a consequence of swaddling infants or carrying them in headboards, procedures that keep the thighs in an extended position. Before the child is able to walk, the hip joint has frequently not yet fully developed, and the head of the femur is forced out of its normal position by this extension.

Osteoarthritis of the hip occurring in relatively young persons—in their 30s or 40s—frequently follows a progressive course and requires surgical treatment. Two rather different strategies of surgery are employed: one, an osteotomy, involves reshaping the upper end of the femur so that the load borne by the joint is distributed more efficiently; the other requires removal of the diseased tissue and replacement by an artificial joint.

Aside from the rapidly developing forms, osteoarthritis of the hips also appears frequently in elderly persons. Aging is an important factor in the development of other forms of degenerative joint disease as well, since the lesions increase in frequency and severity as time passes.

Considerations like these have led to the view that the principal causative factors in degenerative arthritis are faulty mechanical loading and senescent deterioration of joint tissue. Single injuries, unless they leave a joint permanently deformed, rarely result in osteoarthritis. On the other hand, repetitive microtrauma (small injuries), such as that arising from heavy pneumatic drill vibrations or certain athletic activities, is more likely to do so. Lifting heavy weights has been implicated in some studies of spinal involvement. The first metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joint, located between the big toe and the rest of the foot, naturally bears heavy loads and is a common site of osteoarthritis. Regular wearing of high-heeled shoes and repetitive microtrauma are associated with the development of osteoarthritis of the first MTP joint. Congenital joint deformities and certain hormonal abnormalities may also lead to osteoarthritis.

Aside from surgery of the sort noted in the hip and sometimes the knee, treatment includes rest and proper exercise, avoidance of injury, the use of analgesics, NSAIDs, and corticosteroids to relieve pain, and several types of physical therapy. Painful osteoarthritis of the first MTP joint may be treated with the surgical placement of a synthetic cartilage implant, which can help maintain the ability to move the big toe.

Chondromalacia patellae is a common and distinctive softening of the articular cartilage of the kneecap in young persons, particularly young athletes. It results in “catching” and discomfort in the region of the patella, or kneecap, as the knee is bent and straightened out. Pathologically, the changes are indistinguishable from changes that occur early in osteoarthritis. Treatment includes rest, NSAIDs, and physical therapy. More-serious cases of chrondromalacia patellae may require surgery.

Degeneration of the intervertebral disks between the vertebrae of the spine is a frequent and in some ways analogous disorder. Often this occurs acutely in young and middle-aged adults. The pulpy centre of the disk pushes out through tears in the fibrous outer ring, resulting in a slipped disk. When this takes place in the lumbosacral region, the displaced centre (the nucleus pulposus) impinges on the adjacent nerve roots and causes shooting pains in the distribution of the sciatic nerve—hence the name sciatica. Pain in the small of the back may be associated not only with degeneration of the intervertebral disk and spondylosis but also with structural abnormalities of the region. Principal among these is spondylolisthesis, in which there is an anterior displacement of one lumbosacral vertebral body on another. The episodes respond to bed rest and mechanical support from wearing an abdominal brace. Muscle relaxants and muscle-strengthening exercises also may be of value. Recurrences are prevented by avoidance of back strains. The protruding tissue is removed by surgery only in cases in which pain and neurological defects are severe and fail to improve after less drastic measures.

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