Author(s)

Kevin Parfait Bienvenu Bouhelo-Pam^1,2*, Affleck Romaric Ledier Angalla^2,3, Norbert Edgard Lamini N’soundhat^2,3, Marius Monka^1,2, Arnauld Sledje Wilfrid Bilongo Bouyou^1,2, Paul Yèlai Ikounga^1,2, Térence Olivier Etsaka-Ohoya¹

¹Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology, University Hospital of Brazzaville, Brazzaville, Congo.
²Faculty of Health Sciences, Marien N’GOUABI University, Brazzaville, Congo.
³Department of Rhumatology, University Hospital of Brazzaville, Brazzaville, Congo.

Background: Knee osteoarthritis is a frequent, debilitating, and degenerative condition. It is the most common operative indication for surgical arthroscopy. Hypothesis: Arthroscopy allows painless treatment of knee osteoarthritis and functional recovery. Patients and Methods: Our study was conducted in a private medical center in the city of Brazzaville in Congo, during the period from September 2020 to February 2023. It was prospective and based on patients with mechanical knee pain caused by osteoarthritis. A mobile arthroscopy device was used. The IKDC and KOOS scores allowed the evaluation of the treatment. Results: Our work involved 15 men and 7 women, with an average age of 39.9 years. Knee osteoarthritis was classified as type 2 according to Ahlbäck in 26 cases (70.27%) and type 3 in 11 cases (29.73%). In 7 patients, arthroscopy revealed lesions not visualized on MRI. Joint lavage was performed in all cases, synovial debridement in 17 cases (45.94%), and extraction of cartilaginous foreign bodies in 10 cases (27.03%). 20 patients were very satisfied with the surgery and 2 moderately satisfied. The EVA, subjective IKDC and KOOS scores were acceptable on a long-term follow-up. Discussion: Arthroscopy is a modern surgical technique for the management of intra-articular lesions of the knee. It relieves pain and stabilizes the degenerative process. A mobile arthroscopy device used here was preferred because of the low cost of installation and production.

Arthroscopy, Surgery, Imaging, Knee

Bouhelo-Pam, K. , Angalla, A. , N’soundhat, N. , Monka, M. , Bouyou, A. , Ikounga, P. and Etsaka-Ohoya, T. (2024) Arthroscopic Treatment of Gonarthrosis in a Low-Income Setting. Open Journal of Orthopedics, 14, 75-82. doi: 10.4236/ojo.2024.141008.