The diagnosis and treatment of knee osteoarthritis: a literature review

Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is a degenerative disease characterized by the deterioration of the articular cartilage, and hyperplasia of the subchondral bone. KOA is the leading cause of knee pain and dysfunction in adults. The incidence of this arthritis has increased year by year, and the corresponding diagnosis and treatment have developed rapidly as well. A typical diagnostic procedure includes an MRI examination, an arthroscopy, an ultrasound and the creation of thermal texture maps. The available treatments are traditional medicine, arthroscopic treatment, surgical treatment, and tuina manipulation therapy. This paper reviews the clinical studies of the aforementioned methods and their strengths and weaknesses. The results indicate that MRI and ultrasound examination can be used as the basis for the initial diagnosis of knee osteoarthritis, but the thermal texture maps system is a better therapy for further examination. Arthroscopic treatment is used as a minimally invasive, low cost, high efficiency diagnosis and treatment plan. In addition, patients with complex conditions are recommended to use single or integrated methods for diagnosis and treatment based on specific conditions.