Treatment of knee osteoarthritis in babies with the umbilical cord.

Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Specialist Assoc. Dr. Dilek Eker Büyükşireci stated that the newly developed interventional treatment options for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis are now much more effective and that satisfactory results have been achieved in the treatment of these patients.

Mentioning the existence of new techniques and devices that empower doctors in knee osteoarthritis, Assoc. Dr. Dilek Eker Büyükşireci from Medicana International Samsun Hospital stated, “Knee osteoarthritis is commonly known as the wear and tear of cartilage in the knee joint, loss of fluid in the kneecap or knee joint, or the friction between the bones. In fact, knee osteoarthritis presents itself as a natural process of aging and the wear process of the structures that make up the joint. Patients with knee osteoarthritis most frequently consult us due to knee pain. However, these patients may also experience sounds from their knees in the form of creaking or cracking during movement, along with the knee pain. They also report difficulty in long walks, climbing stairs, or squatting. Recently, we have a device that strengthens our hands as physical therapy physicians, which is part of our examination, ultrasound. In addition to physical examination, we can evaluate our patients with ultrasound to determine whether the cause of knee pain is this osteoarthritis or if there is another accompanying pathology. We can also use this ultrasound device in the treatments of our patients with knee osteoarthritis. Because recently, there are many interventional treatment methods developed in this field. As in all joint problems, ultrasound strengthens our diagnosis in knee osteoarthritis and plays an effective role in our direct treatment of the abnormality through targeted point treatment,” she said.

New generation interventional applications in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis

Emphasizing that they can benefit from many new generation applications in the healing of the disease, Assoc. Dr. Dilek Eker Büyükşireci stated, “Alongside the well-known intra-articular hyaluronic acid treatments from the past to the present, we now offer treatment options such as smart plasma applications obtained from the patients’ own blood, exosome applications obtained from the umbilical cord of newborns in a laboratory environment, and stem cell applications obtained from abdominal fat or bone marrow. In the first stage of treatment, we utilize pain relievers, anti-edema medications, supportive products that enhance knee fluid, braces, physical therapy applications, and exercises. We definitely support our patients in losing weight. Although there are many new generation promising treatment options used in knee osteoarthritis treatment recently, we want all our patients to ensure they lose weight and engage in regular exercise, and we suggest they seek physical therapy applications.”

Stating that patients should consult physical therapy and rehabilitation specialists as soon as they feel knee pain before reaching the last stage, Büyükşireci emphasized, “Recently, the most common situation we see is that unfortunately our patient consults us when they are candidates for prosthetic surgery, which we refer to as stage-4 osteoarthritis. However, we want our patients to consult us for treatment at earlier stages so that our results with these new treatment options can be more promising and our chance of success increases. Therefore, I recommend that all our patients with knee pain consult physical therapy and rehabilitation specialists for examination.”