Zusammenfassung
PurposeOsteoarthritis of the knee is acommon disease, often associated with aBaker's cyst. Besides osteoarthritis, also other joint pathologies of the knee can be causative for aBaker's cyst. Radiotherapy is known to be an effective treatment for osteoarthritis, with an anti-inflammatory effect. As the excessive production of synovia usually is associated with intraarticular inflammation, our ...
Zusammenfassung
PurposeOsteoarthritis of the knee is acommon disease, often associated with aBaker's cyst. Besides osteoarthritis, also other joint pathologies of the knee can be causative for aBaker's cyst. Radiotherapy is known to be an effective treatment for osteoarthritis, with an anti-inflammatory effect. As the excessive production of synovia usually is associated with intraarticular inflammation, our hypothesis was that radiotherapy might positively influence the synovial production and reduce the volume of aBaker's cyst.Materials and methodsWe performed aprospective trial, including 20knees receiving radiotherapy for knee arthritis. Besides documentation of NRS (numeric rating scale), WOMAC (Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index) score and Knee Society Score, the volume of the Baker's cyst was calculated for ashort- (6 to 12weeks) and long-term (9 to 12months) follow-up. Ultrasonic volumetry was performed using an ultrasound device with ahigh-resolution multifrequency linear probe (6-9MHz).ResultsLow-dose radiotherapy improved NRS, WOMAC score and Knee Society Score significantly. The mean volume of Baker's cyst decreased from 22.3ml to 10.7 respectively 3.1ml during follow-up. Adecrease in volume of more than 25% compared to the baseline could be achieved for 75% of the patients in the short-term and 79% of the patients in the long-term follow up.ConclusionRadiotherapy of knee osteoarthritis is an effective treatment that decreases the volume of aBaker's cyst. Most patients respond to the treatment. Whether radiotherapy is an effective treatment for Baker's cyst without associated osteoarthritis has to be further examined.
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