Knee joint arthrosis (gonarthrosis)

Osteoarthritis generally occurs more frequently in some families than in others (genetic disposition). A malalignment in the joint such as bow leg and knock-knee can increase the unilateral wear and tear (varus gonarthrosis and valgus gonarthrosis), as can accidents and instabilities (cruciate ligament injury).

Misalignment, rubbing in the joint, swelling and joint effusion, restriction of walking distance and even pain at rest.

In many cases, conservative therapy is sufficient. This can include anti-inflammatory drugs, physiotherapy, insoles, Luxxamed treatment, knee joint orthoses, stretching and strengthening of the shortened muscles, oral chondroprotectants (glucosaminoglycans, chondroitin sulphate), PRP injections or hyaluronic acid injections. Knee joint arthroscopy can be used to remove mechanical obstacles such as meniscus tears, cartilage shearing and cartilage roughness(chondroplasty).

Smaller and medium-sized cartilage defects are repaired using Pridie drilling, OATS surgery (bone-to-cartilage transfer) and abrasion arthroplasty (bone resurfacing for new cartilage formation). Axial corrections(tibial plateau osteotomy, supracondylar realignment) are performed for more pronounced axial misalignments and unilateral osteoarthritis. Dr. Krebs has particular experience in the combination of axis correction with abrasion arthroplasty in combination with stem cell therapy for the treatment of gonarthrosis. This complex treatment is also known as bioprosthesis .

If the cartilage defects can no longer be treated with these measures, a knee prosthesis is implanted if the patient is suffering accordingly. We differentiate between unilateral prostheses(unicondylar prosthesis) and a complete surface replacement(bicondylar prosthesis). Coupled axial prosthesesare only used in cases of considerable additional knee joint instability that cannot be corrected in any other way. In cases of exclusive osteoarthritis under the kneecap and on the kneecap bearing, we use a kneecap prosthesis with a sliding bearing replacement.