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Arthritis of the knee falls into two main categories, inflammatory arthritis and degenerative arthritis. Both types of arthritis cause pain by damaging the normal cartilage that surrounds the knee joint.

Inflammatory arthritis includes conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis. These are classified as auto-immune diseases – the damage is caused by the body’s own immune system attacking the joint. Fortunately, the treatment of inflammatory arthritis (which is usually supervised by a rheumatologist) has evolved significantly over the past few decades and surgery for these disorders is becoming less common. However, surgery may occasionally be required to reduce inflammation in the joint or to replace the joint entirely.

Degenerative arthritis is more commonly known as osteoarthritis or “wear and tear” arthritis. This is by far the most common form of arthritis and may be associated with obesity, increasing age and genetic predisposition. As yet, there is no effective medical treatment for osteoarthritis and surgery is more commonly employed as a treatment. The aim of surgery is to restore cartilage if possible, improve pain by re-aligning the joint or replace the knee (or part of the knee) if necessary.

More information about arthritis can be found here