Treatment Options for Knee Arthritis - Mark Wilchinsky, MD

Video Transcript

My name is Dr. Mark Wilchinsky and I’m an orthopedic surgeon at OSM. My subspecialty is treatment of arthritis of the knee. Arthritis of the knee is a condition where the knee starts to basically wear out. Our knee consists of cartilage and bone and arthritis of the knee means that the cartilage part of the knee joint wears out. So, when we develop arthritis the cartilage wears out and now we’re walking bone-on-bone. There’s all different degrees of arthritis in the knee. Some is mild, some are severe. For the milder forms of arthritis I always approach it with a non-operative type treatment. And that can include nonsteroidal anti- inflammatory medications. Perhaps an analgesic. Weight-loss, physical therapy, bracing. And if that doesn’t work, the next step up would be various types of injections. The most common being cortisone injections and hyaluronic acid injections or a gel shot – a lubricant. The lubricant is done very often for arthritis and sometimes it helps prevent or prolong the need for joint replacement surgery. Joint replacement surgery is the final treatment modality for arthritis. There are two types. One is a partial knee replacement the other is a total knee replacement.