Knee osteoarthritis: pathophysiology and current treatment modalities

Abstract

Juan C Mora,1 Rene Przkora,1 Yenisel Cruz-Almeida2 1Department of Anesthesiology, Division of Pain Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA; 2Department of Aging and Geriatric Research, Institute on Aging, Pain Research and Intervention Center of Excellence, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA Abstract: For decades, multiple attempts to fully understand knee osteoarthritis pathophysiology and natural history have been attempted. Despite the extensive amount of research regarding this topic, there are still marked controversies. This multifactorial condition gets influenced by local, systemic, and external factors and its progression and/or response to treatments widely varies from patient to patient. Multiple therapies have been studied in the past, low impact physical activity seems to be supported by all the current medical societies while other interventions have shown conflicting findings. Newer therapies and routes of administration are under investigation and some of them have shown promising preliminary reports. This review intends to give an overview of the current knowledge of pathophysiology and non-surgical therapies available for knee osteoarthritis. Keywords: knee osteoarthritis, cartilage degeneration, non-inflammatory arthritis, intra-articular injections, corticosteroid