Osteoarthritis

Diagnosis

Tests Used to Diagnose Osteoarthritis

Symptoms include:

• Mild to severe pain in a joint, especially after overuse or long periods of inactivity, such as sitting for a long time. Most commonly affected joints are those in the knee, hip, hand, or spine.
  
  
• Pain usually increases when the joint is used or stressed.
  
  
• Pain is usually decreased by resting the joint.
  
  
• The pain may be described as dull and achy or a sharper, stabbing sensation.
  
  
• Stiffness that can make everyday activities difficult, such as leaning down to pick something up, putting on shoes, opening a jar, walking, or climbing stairs.
  
  
• Stiffness first thing in the morning is common, usually lasting under 30 minutes after you resume activity.
  
  
• Stiffness after any period of inactivity is common (such as after sitting still for a couple of hours in a movie theater or on an airplane).
  
  
• Stiffness decreases your range of motion, so that you can't bend or unbend a joint as far as you normally could.
  
  
• Weakness in muscles around the sore joint. You may have a feeling of instability in the joint. For example, your knee may feel as if it is going to buckle underneath you.
  
  
• You may feel or hear a grating or creaking sound when you bend or unbend your joint.
  
  
• Your joint may develop an abnormal appearance:

  It may be inflamed, red, swollen.
  It may appear misaligned or misshapen.

Tests Used to Diagnose Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis is usually diagnosed after your health care provider has taken a careful history of your symptoms and performs a thorough physical examination. There are no definitive laboratory tests to make an absolute diagnosis of osteoarthritis, although certain tests may confirm your healthcare provider's impression that you have developed osteoarthritis. Tests may include:

• x-ray examination of an affected joint
  A joint that is affected by osteoarthritis will have lost some of the normal space that exists between the bones that make up the joint (the joint space). There may be tiny new bits of bone (bone spurs) visible at the end of the bones. Other signs of joint and bone deterioration may also be present. X-rays, however, will not show very much in the earlier stages of osteoarthritis, even when you are clearly experiencing symptoms.
  
  
• arthrocentesis
  Using a thin needle, your healthcare provider may remove a small bit of joint fluid from an affected joint. The fluid can be examined in a laboratory to make sure that no other disorder is causing your symptoms (such as rheumatoid arthritis, gout, or infection). The presence of cartilage cells in the fluid may indicate osteoarthritis.
  
  
• blood tests
  Blood tests may be done to make sure that no other disorder is responsible for your symptoms (such as rheumatoid arthritis or other autoimmune diseases that include forms of arthritis). Researchers are also looking at whether the presence of certain substances in the blood might indicate osteoarthritis and help predict the severity of the condition. These substances include breakdown products of hyaluronic acid (a substance that lubricates joints) and a liver product called C-reactive protein.