Background:Osteoarthritis (OA) is a debilitating degenerative joint disease particularly affecting
weightbearing joints within the body, principally the hips and knees.
Objectives: We aimed to asses the inflammatory markers in the form of C-reactive protein (CRP) and
erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) among patients with knee OA.
Patients and Method: The study included 90patients with knee OA, 30 patients with mild degree of
OA&30 patients with moderate degree of OA &30 patients with severe degree of OA. CRP and ESR
wereperformed and analyzed for all the included patients.
Results: the mean CRP of all studied patients was 5.1 ± 1.33 mg/L with minimum CRP value of 3
mg/dL and maximum one of 7 mg/dL.The mean ESR of all studied patients was 23.5 ± 2.04 mm/h with
minimum ESR value of 20 mm/h and maximum one of 27 mm/h.Statistically significant difference (p=
0.028) between mild OA & severe OA groups as regard ESR, no other significant differences were
observed.
Conclusions:The present study confirms the presence of inflammatory state among patients with knee
osteoarthritis especially those with sever form.