Arthritis and Total Knee Replacement Baltimore MD

Arthritis is the major category of disease that leads patients to consider a total knee replacement Baltimore MD.  While there are many excellent non-surgical interventions available, as well as surgical procedures that repair the knee rather than replacing it, the knee replacement surgery Baltimore is the best standard of care for individuals who have chronic pain and disability due to an arthritic condition.

Types of Arthritis and Knee Replacement Baltimore

While there are many varieties of arthritis that effect people, especially as they are getting older, there are three major kinds that typically cause specific problems with the knees.  These are as follows:

• Post-traumatic arthritis occurs after a very serious injury to the knee joint.  These types of injuries would include fractures of the bones that make up the knee joint.  They include the femur, which is the large bone in the thigh, the fibula and tibia that make up the lower part of the leg, and the patella, also known as the knee cap.  Tears in the ligaments can also precede cases of post-traumatic arthritis.
• Osteoarthritis is the most common of the arthritic causes of knee pain and dysfunction.  It most regularly occurs in individuals who are over the age of 50, with age being its biggest risk factor.  Osteoarthritis is also called "wear and tear" arthritis, meaning it gets worse as a moving part of the body gets more use.  Over-use of specific joints can cause osteoarthritis to occur in people who younger than age 50.  This condition breaks down the cartilage that cushions the bone structures making up the knee joint, allowing the bare ends of the bones to rub together, resulting in pain, swelling and stiffness.
• Rheumatoid arthritis differs from other kinds of arthritis that are often use- or trauma-based.  It is a systemic disease that belongs in the family of autoimmune disorders, meaning that the body's immune system fails to function properly and ends up attacking it's own structures in various ways.  In the case of the knee joint, the synovial membrane that surrounds the knee joint becomes inflamed and thickened.  If the inflammation is chronic, it can also damage the cartilage in the joint and cause it to wear away.