The knee is always painful and swollen. It is not necessarily knee arthritis. It may be tendon sheath giant cell tumour (TGCT, also known as pigmented villous nodular synovitis).
Tendon sheath giant cell tumours are often mistaken for arthritis. Be wary of repeated swelling
A 60-year-old woman injured her knee joint when she was young. Since then, her knee has been swollen and painful. She thought she was suffering from arthritis, but the treatment did not improve for decades. It was not until a period of time that her knee appeared severe swelling, and further examination revealed that the TGCT had spread all over the blood vessels of the knee and even eroded to the bone.
TGCT usually grows on the knee. It is a benign tumour caused by inflammation and hyperplasia of the knee bursa. It is difficult to treat if it grows in the joint. (Health 1+1 / Epoch Times)
"Generally speaking, it takes an average of two years for a giant cell tumor of the tendon sheath to be diagnosed by a physician," said Wu Bogui, director of the Musculoskeletal Tumor Treatment and Research Center at Taipei Veterans General Hospital. Because its symptoms are knee pain, swelling and weakness, it can easily be mistaken for degenerative arthritis or sports injuries. Many patients cannot be cured for a long time, their knee swelling is getting worse and worse. When they go to the hospital to draw joint fluid, it is found that the blood-red fluid is drawn, and the diagnosis is confirmed.
To determine whether the knee pain is a simple injury, arthritis or a giant cell tumor of the tendon sheath, there is an obvious distinguishing feature, which is whether the knee is swollen continuously. "TGCT is not likely to reduce the swelling," Wu Bogui said. "It disappears some times, but it immediately swells up." So if repeated swelling lasts for several months, be vigilant.
The cause of TGCT is related to injury, irritation or gene. The famous American orthopedic oncologist and professor of surgery Dr. Richard Blackman pointed out that if a tumour grows outside the joint, it is relatively easy to treat but if it grows inside the joint, it will cause severe corrosion and destruction to the joint.
Treatment of TGCT is mainly surgery
The most important method to treat TGCT is surgery. Through surgery, the tumour in the knee joint can be removed.
However, if the tumour diffuses in a wide area, and even adheres to cartilage, ligaments, nerves and blood vessels, it is more difficult to remove it, and it needs to be peeled off carefully, and this situation is easy to relapse. Therefore, local low-dose radiotherapy may be required after surgery to further clean up the tumour and reduce the probability of recurrence.
Very few TGCTs can develop into malignant tumors. Malignant tumours can also be removed by surgery, but if the tumour swallows and destroys the nerve and blood vessel function of the legs, amputation may be considered.
4 kinds of sports to maintain and rehabilitate the knee joint
Through rehabilitation exercise, patients with TGCT can better restore joint function. Three months after the operation is the golden period of rehabilitation.
Action 1: Presser foot movement
TGCT knee rehabilitation exercise one. (Health 1+1 / Epoch Times)
1. Sit on the front half of the chair with buttocks, spread a towel on the floor, and place the foot on the side of the operation on the towel.
2. The heel of the opposite foot is placed in front of the lateral ankle of the foot on the surgery side.
3. Apply force to the opposite foot, bend the leg on the surgery side to the tightest, and then press for 5 seconds. Release it slowly.
Action 2: Pull the leg exercise
TGCT knee rehabilitation exercise II. (Health 1+1 / Epoch Times)
1. Sit, stretch your legs forward, put a towel around the heel of one foot, pull the towel with your hands to bend your knees.
2. When the bend is tightest, hold for 10 seconds. Then slowly straighten it out.
Action 3: Lying position and leg lift exercise
TGCT knee rehabilitation exercise three. (Health 1+1 / Epoch Times)
1. Straighten the knees of one leg, raise the toes, and then slowly lift up.
2. When you reach the highest point, hold for 3 seconds. Then slowly put it down.
Action 4: Seated leg lift exercise
TGCT knee rehabilitation exercise IV. (Health 1+1 / Epoch Times)
1. Sit on a chair, support both sides of the chair with both hands, with your back close to the back of the chair.
2. With your knees straight and your toes up, lift your legs slowly for 10 seconds.
3. Slowly and continue to exert force, lower the leg.
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