My approach to a patient with knee pain: The one stop knee clinic

Knee pain is a very common complaint in the population. I usually apply a very simple approach to diagnosis. We try to find out how long the pain has been present. I ask the
Patient if there is any history of injury to the knee. What I have found most useful is to ask the patient to point at where hurts most in the knee, in other words the patient tells me the diagnosis! I then try and feel the knee myself to localize the exact point of maximal pain. In majority of cases by now the cause of the knee pain is already clear. To further confirm in some cases I may perform ultrasound scan of the knee to throw more light on the condition. By now a working diagnosis will already be formulated.
Other tests that may be needed include x-rays, special imaging (MRI) and blood tests.
Most patients with knee pain respond to non operative treatment methods like physical therapy which I often recommend, activity modification, analgesics etc. Those who still have persistent pain after 6-8 weeks may need further evaluation. Recently we have been using biologic treatments like protein rich plasma (PRP) in the management of persistent knee pain. Surgical intervention is usually the last option in the client with recalcitrant knee pain that fails to respond to other treatment modalities.
Arthroscopic surgery is now the treatment of choice for diagnosis and treatment of knee conditions; it is able to shed more light on the exact course of the knee pain which is also treated at the same time. We usually perform arthroscopy as an out patient procedure and some times under local anaesthesia( patient can work immediately after surgery and go home same day)!
If you have been having this persistent knee pain,visit your family physician and ask if you will benefit from arthroscopic surgery or call 09055677083 for more information .