10.7 Osteoarthritis

Question 1

True or false: every osteoarthritis diagnosis requires Ix

Answer 1

• False
• It is a clinical diagnosis
• We only investigate sometimes

Question 2

Under what circumstances might we investigate for osteoarthritis? What investigations might we do, and what might we look for?

Answer 2

• Hx of trauma (?damage)
• Prolonged stiffness
• Swollen hot joint (?septic)

Investigations: joint aspiration
- Pathogens
- RBC (haemarthosis) and WBC (infection)

Question 3

Is there a strong correlation between imaging presentation and OA? What about correlation with symptoms?

Answer 3

• No; only a minority of OA cases will have radiographic findings
• Also, small correlation between radiological presentation and symptoms