Травма колена – это, пожалуй, одна из самых frequent troubles that people have to face. After all, the knee joint carries a large load and is responsible not only for walking, running and jumping, but also for many other movements.
Most Common Knee Injuries
Due to the fact that the knee joint is quitecomplex structure, many components can be injured in it - ligaments, muscles, cartilage and bone. Depending on this, the following types of damage are shared:
- the lightest is a bruise that occurs after a blow or a fall;
- knee injury associated with sprains or tendons supporting and connecting the patella;
- meniscus gap (it is an elastic septum between the upper and lower bone of the joint);
- ligament damage;
- cracks or fractures in the patella, in the lower part of the femur, or in the upper part of the fibula and tibia, arising after a fall or blow;
- sprains in the kneecap area (infrequently).
Knee injuries with excessive loads
Each knee injury listed aboveoccurs as an acute condition as a result of physical effects on the joint. But some of them may be the result of prolonged exertion or repetitive actions. For example, cycling, climbing stairs, jumping and running can provoke irritation or inflammation of a particular component in the knee joint.
In medicine, there are several injuries related to this type:
- bursitis - inflammation of the synovial bags, softening friction between the heads of the bones in the knee joint;
- tendonitis (inflammation) or tendinosis (tears) of tendons;
- Plica syndrome - twisting or thickening of the ligaments in the knee;
- knee-hip pain syndrome - occurs after excessive loads, overweight, injury or birth defects of the patella.
What damage to the knee can develop after a fall?
But the most frequent is a knee injury in the fall, expressed as a bruise, a crack or a fracture of the bones.
A bruise, by the way, can be different in severity -from a simple hematoma or an abrasion on the skin to a condition in which blood from a vessel that has burst after an impact accumulates in the joint. This condition in medicine is called hemarthrosis.
And in this case, the victim, as a rule,complains of pain in the knee and difficulty in walking, and the joint is noticeably increasing in volume and sometimes there is bruising under the skin. Often, due to the accumulated content in the joint, the patient cannot fully bend the knee.
Most often, symptoms of joint injury gradually.disappear even without treatment. If, even after a long time, there is a violation of the functions of the knee and persistent pain, then the victim needs a full examination to determine the effects of the injury.
Knee injury: meniscus
Direct knee kick for something hard or jumpon legs from a great height may cause another damage - crushing of the meniscus between the articular surfaces. And with their sharp movement (during uncoordinated flexion or extension of the leg), the meniscus can even completely detach from the joint capsule and tear.
Incidentally damage to the lateral meniscus (withthe inner side of the surface of the tibia) are 10 times less common than the medial (from the outer side of it). In this case, the victim experiences severe pain in the joint, and it is impossible to bend the leg. Hemarthrosis will later join this, as with a strong injury.
Knee injury: ligament
Often, in combination with damage to one or both menisci, there are also injuries of the anterior cruciate and / or tibial collateral ligament.
The reason for this may be a blow to the joint, andsharp uncoordinated leg abduction combined with its outward movement. Externally, sprains or ruptures of the ligaments are manifested by severe spilled pain in the limb, restriction of leg mobility, reflex tension of its muscles, swelling around the joint, formation of effusion and hemarthrosis.
After a knee injury implying damageligaments, the injured leg should be held in a raised position on a pillow or cushion of clothing; a bandage (but not tight!) bandage is applied to the knee for 15-20 minutes. cold compress (during the day it can be applied up to 3 times). The patient should be immediately taken to a traumatologist or orthopedist.
Knee fracture
After a severe knee strike or a fall from a height, fractures of the patella, lower femur or upper fibular and tibial bones may be found in the victim.
The named knee injury is expressed by severe pain,sharpening with the slightest movement of the foot, edema quickly forms around the joint, it becomes stationary and noticeably deformed. The patient may have a fever and a severe bruise.
If a bone fracture is suspectedit is imperative to fix the leg with any long straight object in one position to avoid displacement of bone fragments. The leg is pinned to a home-made tire, and the existing wounds are treated with an antiseptic solution. To reduce swelling and pain, an ice compress can be applied to the knee, which, by the way, can be held longer than 20 minutes. Not recommended.
The patient should be urgently taken to hospital for further assistance.
Treatment of various knee injuries
Если у пациента имеется травма колена, лечение will depend on what kind of diagnosis the specialists make - it can be both outpatient and inpatient. The patient must make an x-ray of the damaged joint or its ultrasound.
If strain or pinch is detectedmeniscus, the patient is carried out the procedure for its release. In the case when for some reason this is not possible, an extension of the joint is carried out using a special apparatus. For the relief of pain, indomethacin tablets, Diclofenac ointment, Promedol drug intramuscularly or in tablets are prescribed to the patient.
In severe cases, when the meniscus is torn, the patient is indicated surgical treatment.
When sprains are appliedanti-inflammatory drugs (Diclofenac ointment or Voltaren ointment), ointments containing anticoagulants (Lioton). To these funds add and ointment "Dimexide", which improves the delivery of the main active ingredient in the tissue.
Fractures are treated with a special dressing,providing immobility of the joint, and in the case of the presence of multiple debris, an operation is performed to compare them in an anatomical order. If the cartilage tissue is damaged, the patient is shown to take chondroprotectors, which contribute to its restoration (“Chondroitin”, “Rumelon”, etc.).
