Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2016 Jul;24(7):1135-42.
doi: 10.1016/j.joca.2016.01.986. Epub 2016 Feb 4.

Location of knee pain in medial knee osteoarthritis: patterns and associations with self-reported clinical symptoms

A Van Ginckel  1 , K L Bennell  2 , P K Campbell  3 , T V Wrigley  4 , D J Hunter  5 , R S Hinman  6
Affiliations
Free article
Randomized Controlled Trial

Location of knee pain in medial knee osteoarthritis: patterns and associations with self-reported clinical symptoms

A Van Ginckel et al. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2016 Jul.
Free article

Abstract

Objectives: To (1) document pain location in medial tibiofemoral osteoarthritis (OA) using the patient-administered Photographic Knee Pain Map (PKPM); (2) compare pain severity, nature and likelihood of neuropathic-like symptoms, physical dysfunction and presence of symptoms at other sites across the most common pain patterns.

Design: Baseline data were analysed from 164 participants with medial tibiofemoral OA (TFJOA) participating in a randomised controlled trial (RCT). Participants completed the PKPM indicating all relevant pain zones of their most painful knee. Pain zones were collapsed into regions to determine patterns of pain. Symptoms were quantified using numeric rating scales (NRSs) of pain severity, Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), Intermittent and Constant Osteoarthritis Pain (ICOAP) and painDETECT questionnaires. Symptoms at other joints were categorised as present/absent.

Results: The medial joint line (n = 123, 75%), patellar tendon (n = 62, 38%) and posterior knee (n = 61, 37%) were the most frequently reported pain zones. The most frequent patterns were diffuse (41%), isolated medial (16%), anterior-medial (12%) and medial-posterior (11%) pain. WOMAC and ICOAP scores were higher in the diffuse compared to anterior-medial patterns. Mean PainDETECT scores were higher with both diffuse and medial-posterior pain relative to anterior-medial pain.

Conclusion: Only 16% of the cohort indicated isolated medial knee pain, whilst a diffuse pain pattern was most common. People with diffuse knee pain reported more severe pain and physical dysfunction than those with anterior-medial pain. Prevalence of possible/likely neuropathic-like symptoms tended to be more frequent in diffuse and posterior-medial patterns compared to anterior-medial pain.

Keywords: Knee; Osteoarthritis; Pain; Pain map; Physical function.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources