Presence Of Loose Bodies In The Knee Joint. How To Treat This Problem?

Posted on Sat, 1 Dec 2012

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sat, 1 Dec 2012 Answered on

Fri, 21 Dec 2012 Last reviewed on

Question : I have a loose body in my knee and am waiting for arthroscopy. I have also stayed off work as a meniscus tear was also suspected. My question is my work entails a lot of kneeling and squatting which is causing me a great deal of pain at the moment. Am I right to continue staying of for would you advise getting back to normal duties as soon as possible? I work in cardiac surgery as a perfusionist and need to be agile and move quickly and freely. I am concerned my current knee condition is impairing my ability to do this sufficiently at the moment. As my knee also locks and keeps catching. Thank you for your time.

Answered by Dr. Shailja Puri (10 hours later)

Hello,

Thanks for your query.

Presence of loose bodies in the knee joint indicates osteoarthiritis. It is a degenerative disorder of joints caused by wearing off of the articular cartilage. Articular cartilage which is a hyaline cartilage covers the opposing surfaces of the joint. Destruction of this cartilage leads to degeneration of the underlying bone also. Therefore one may experience symptoms of pain, stiffness and locking occurs with osteoarthritis.

Such conditions are managed either with conservative and surgical treatment. However before the treatment is planned, kneeling and squatting position may cause further deterioration and aggravation of symptoms. So it is definitely better to avoid such positions. Adequate rest to the knee joint is recommended till your doctor's plan the next step of management.

Besides that meniscal tear also warrants adequate rest for proper healing.

Discuss with your orthopedic surgeon who can write to your management if you have any problems with leave application.

Hope this answers your query. Let me know if you need further assistance.

Regards
Dr Shailja P Wahal

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad

Follow up: Dr. Shailja Puri (3 hours later)

Many thanks for getting back to me. My pain is still bad so will take your advice. Just worry about absent for so long. However, damage limitation is the name of the game. Thanks again. Best wishes.

Answered by Dr. Shailja Puri (9 hours later)

The pleasure is mine.
I wish you a speedy recovery.

Regards
Dr Shailja P Wahal

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Mohammed Kappan