Ostearthritis: It is a joint disease that affects most of the middle and older people. It is also known as the wear or calcification of the joints among the people. Generally, the incidence increases from middle age to the elderly. It’s slow going. It goes away with cartilage fragmentation, then meniscus and ligament damage, narrowing of the joint space and new bone formation. It most commonly affects the spine (waist and neck), knee, hip and hand joints.
Patients have joint pain that occurs not with rest but with movement, and a feeling of being stuck in the joint. There is no treatment to reverse this after joint damage has developed
. The aim of treatment is to reduce pain and improve the movements of the involved joint. Physical therapy and drug therapy are used together. Sometimes surgical treatment is performed.
Case: A 55-year-old female patient. The patient, who has been followed up with the diagnosis of knee osteoarthritis for 5 years, has increased pain and limitation of movement, especially in the knees. (VAS 9-10) There is narrowing of the joint space and contact of the joints with each other in the direct X-ray. He applied to various polyclinics for these complaints, but received no response. Thereupon, she applied to the algology outpatient clinic. First, intra-knee joint injection and popliteal block were applied for pain relief. He was called for control 15 days later. On control, the VAS was 4-5. Thereupon, caudal epidural block was performed together with the previous two blocks. He was called for control 15 days later. In the control, the VAS was 2-3. His pain was reduced and his movements were relaxed. Thereupon, the previous three blocks were repeated and the treatment was terminated to come for control 3 months later.
Conclusion: Interventional blocks have an important role in the reduction of pain in osteoarthritis, relief of movements and improvement of pathologies in the joints. We think that this effect is the result of parasympathetic activity, vasodilation and revascularization developed as a result of sympathetic blocks caused by interventional blocks.
