Abstract

Introduction. Knee pain is a clinical sign of osteoarthritis and an ongoing inflammatory process in the joint. Aim of the thesis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of BMI and degradative changes in patellofemoral joint cartilage on the level of knee pain at rest. Material and methods. The study group consisted of 150 patients with patellofemoral joint cartilage lesions. The classification of cartilage degradation according to Outerdridge was done by ultrasound. The level of pain at rest was assessed according to the VAS scale. The data was collected with usage of a self-made study protocol. Results. There was no statistically significant correlation between BMI and VAS pain complaints (rho = 0.099, p = 0.228). There was also no statistically significant correlation between degradative changes in the cartilage of the patellofemoral joint and the level of pain on the VAS scale (rho = 0.076, p = 0.353). Conclusions. BMI does not affect the severity of knee joint pain at rest. The extent of cartilage wear in the patellofemoral joint does not correlate with knee pain during physical inactivity.

Key words:

rest pain, femoropatellar joint, gonarthrosis, knee joint, Body Masse Index (BMI)