Q: I have been diagnosed with Tricompartmental Arthritis. What is this EXACTLY? What are the 3 compartments? What is the treatment?
The knee is separated into three compartments or areas: the lateral, medial and patellofemoral (knee cap). Arthritis can affect all three areas to various degrees. Based on the procedure you describe, a joint preservation procedure has been done in an effort to give you as much knee function as possible before the inevitable, end point treatment--arthroplasty (joint replacement).
Because you are a PT, I am sure you have already tried to unload the knee as much as possible during exercise and other activities to improve activity tolerance. Hopefully, you have tried and are sticking with an anti-inflammatory diet and maybe some supplements like glucosamine and omega-3's.
Eventually, you may need some medication management for your chronic pain to improve your QOL and function.
Dr. Christina Lasich, MD
Smoothing out the joint surfaces is the idea behind arthroscopic surgery for cases of severe arthritis. Sometimes this surgery can relieve pain and improve range of motion, sometimes not. Surgical success is based on many factors. So, it is hard for me to say exactly why you are not improving after surgery.
Dr. Christina Lasich, MD
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