More and more intensive tailor-made care
Medical science is advancing rapidly. We asked Dr. Pieter Emans, orthopedic surgeon at MUMC+ in Maastricht, which breakthroughs will bring real improvements in the treatment of osteoarthritis.
More than a million Dutch people suffer from osteoarthritis. This disease is a wear and tear of the cartilage in joints and can be quite painful. The good news is that more and more new therapies are being discovered in arthrosis. But that is also a problem, because osteoarthritis is tailor-made. What works well for one person only causes misery for another.
Pain relief, injections into the joint, improvement of lifestyle and operations in which the joint is (partially) replaced have been used for some time now. But more and more new possibilities are being added, according to Emans, and not everything has been thoroughly researched yet. “On the internet you will find studies into injecting oxygen, injecting stem cells, cultivating cartilage… you name it. I notice that patients sometimes lose the overview and think that anything is possible.” That is unfortunately not possible. An important aspect is age. Emans: “When you are over 60, not everything is possible anymore. The so-called regenerative treatment, for example, in which tissue itself regrows, is usually no longer suitable. Growing up is no longer so easy at a certain point.” That is still possible if you are younger than 60. But there are also people in their fifties who want an artificial knee, while it is better to wait with that. “A prosthesis can be susceptible to infection. A bacterium that causes an infection elsewhere in the body can spread through the blood and settle in the area around the prosthesis.”
Treatment aimed at preserving the joint
The longer you can keep doing things with your own knee, the better. Emans foresees that so-called joint-saving clinics will arise throughout the country where the treatment is aimed at preserving your own joint. “Healthcare providers are increasingly working together. We really try to offer a tailor-made treatment, because there are many factors that determine whether a treatment suits someone well.”
This article appeared in the magazine Plus Magazine January 2020. Want to subscribe to Plus Magazine? Becoming a subscriber is done in no time!
Sources):
- Plus Magazine
