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. Mr. Fergus Paterson
Private Consulting © Fergus Paterson 2003/4/5 |
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The Right Tools |
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Most people will at some time or other develop a painful knee joint. It may be the result of a sporting injury or a pre-existing condition such as arthritis. With access to the Internet freely available there is no shortage of places to go for medical advice, indeed the choice is now so wide that it may at times be overwhelming. Generally speaking the initial treatment of most sports injuries will be through the club physio or a doctor in the local hospital A&E department, and non-sporting knee conditions will be managed by the General Practitioner or a Rheumatologist. If simple conservative treatment has failed to cure the problem then patients should consider seeing an Orthopaedic Surgeon who specialises in the knee. It is at this stage that the contents of this website may be of assistance. The diagnosis of sporting injuries of the knee is usually fairly straightforward following clinical examination and x-ray. If there is no fracture then it will be damaged ligaments, a torn cartilage, or if you are really unlucky, a combination of the two. Patients with non-sporting knee disorders tend to fall into fairly well defined age groups with children forming a special group of their own (see later) Where a diagnosis cannot be reached after clinical examination and x-ray it may be necessary to carry out further investigations including blood tests, MRI scan, and Technetium 99 bone scan. Ultimately the inside of the knee can be viewed on a TV screen by inserting an arthroscope under anaesthesia (keyhole surgery).
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