Joe A Shaw PA-C - 1/23/2012

Question
I just got these test results back from the va.dont have a clue what it means.do you think i will have to have surgery? left knee on the ap view there is significant lateral subluxation with almost bone to bone contact of the medial compartment and marked marginal spurring of the patellofemoral and lateral compartments. there is no joint effusion. the right knee shows moderate degenerative changes mostly involving the medial compartment with minimal marginal spurring patellofemoral joint slightly narrowing. no joint effusion.
is this bad i do know one thing they really hurt . thanks rick

Answer
Sounds like you have some arthritis of your knees.The bone on bone is most likely causing most of the pain. You can try cortisone injections or synvisc which should buy you some time..you eventually may need knee replacement.However if you are overweight and smoke..if you get to normal wt and stop smoking I have seen patients avoid knee replacements all together!