Complications of osteoarthritis
Most people find osteoarthritis to be a nuisance that eventually becomes significant enough to impact their daily activities, but sometimes there are more serious complications.
Possible complications of osteoarthritis include:
- Rapid, complete breakdown of cartilage resulting in loose tissue material in the joint (chondrolysis).
- Bone death (osteonecrosis).
- Stress fractures (hairline crack in the bone that develops gradually in response to repeated injury or stress).
- Bleeding inside the joint.
- Infection in the joint.
- Deterioration or rupture of the tendons and ligaments around the joint, leading to loss of stability.
- Pinched nerve (in osteoarthritis of the spine).
| Author: | Shannon Erstad, MBA/MPH | Last Updated: April 17, 2009 |
| Medical Review: | Anne C. Poinier, MD - Internal Medicine Richa Dhawan, MD - Rheumatology | |
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