Usefulness Of Knee Arthroscopy For Diagnosis And Treatment Of The Knee Joint Chronic Synovitis In Pediatric Patients

Objective To evaluate the role of arthroscopy in the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric patients with knee joint synovitis.Subjects Sixteen patients with the single knee synovitis, from one to fourteen years of age, consist of twelve males and four females. They were diagnosed and treated by using knee arthroscopy from June 2013 to December 2015. Clinical data were collected by follow-up and evaluated through Lysholm and KSS score.Results The above sixteen patients were diagnosed preoperatively as the knee synovitis. It is mainly based on clinical manifestation, laboratory results and imaging studies. Each kind of synovitis was confirmed postoperatively through arthroscopy and pathological examination. Among these sixteen cases, eight of them were confirmed as chronic non-specific synovitis, two cases were chronic Septic synovitis, two cases were reported as post-traumatic synovitis, another two were TB synovitis, and the rest was confirmed as pigmented villonodular synovitis. Patients were seen for six to twenty-six months of follow-up and the average time is 12.6 months. All patients were treated with knee arthroscopy surgery and postoperative medication and no relapses occurred over the duration of follow-up. The mean Lysholm score was raised to 82±12.6 points from 50±13.0 points, and the mean KSS clinical score mean was 86.0±16.0 points while the preoperative was 65.5±10.5 points. Compared with the preoperative function score 45.8±20.0 points, it reach to 87.6±15.6 points.-Fourteen patients had good effects which included the good range of the knee motion, the release of the pain and so on. Two patients retained an extension and flexion lag, but the pain was lessened obviously.Conclusion Arthroscopically Arthroscopically assisted treatment of pediatric patients knee joint synovitis is a more ideal method. It can make a definite diagnosis and clear away the inflammatory factor in the joint. The advantages include early diagnosis, minimization of trauma, thorough clearance and speedy recovery. Our study shows that early treatment with arthroscopically assisted debridement, early rehabilitation and postoperative medication can preserve the maximal function of knee joint and avoid arthrodesis.