Abstract:

Background:

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis and one of the leading causes of disability. OA affects around 250 million people worldwide. Musculoskeletal ultrasound (MSUS) has become important and primary diagnostic tool in visualization of inflammatory and degenerative conditions of joints, ligaments, cartilage and muscles.

Aims:

Investigation of the cross-sectional association between ultrasonographic findings and pain in knee osteoarthritis.

Patients and methods:

Fifty patients fulfilling the clinical criteria for knee OA had undergone US examination of the most symptomatic knee and pain assessment, studies were performed at Benha teaching hospital.

Statistical analysis:

The statistical analysis and presentation of data was conducted using the mean, slandered deviation, t-test and Pearson's correlation by SPSS version 20.

Results:

After data acquisition and statistical analysis no association between US findings and the level of knee pain was found.

Conclusion:

In this cohort, no association between US features and the degree of knee pain was found. Despite the attractiveness of US (easy accessible, inexpensive and no radiation involvement), it remains uncertain which part of pain in knee OA is explained by pathology in soft tissue structures and whether US of the knee is the imaging tool of choice to visualize this pathology.

Key words:

Osteoarthritis, knee, pain, ultrasonography.

Key message:

No association between US features and the degree of knee pain was found.