News The Care and Management of Osteoarthritis in Adults | The Care and Management of Osteoarthritis in Adults |
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According to NICE, treatment and care should take into account patients’ needs and preferences. People with osteoarthritis should have the opportunity to make informed decisions about their care and treatment, in partnership with their healthcare professionals. Osteoarthritis (OA) refers to a clinical syndrome of joint pain accompanied by varying degrees of functional limitation and reduced quality of life. It is the most common form of arthritis and one of the leading causes of pain and disability worldwide. Knees, hips and small hand joints are most commonly affected. Factors that may play a role in the development of OA include age, genetics, obesity, sex, previous joint injury, damage or deformity, and occupational overuse of a joint. There is no cure for OA but there are a number of things that can be done to ease the symptoms. For anyonw with OA , the aims of treatment should be:
Key priorities for implementation are as follows: 1. Excercise should be a core treatment for people with osteoarthritis, irrespective of age, comorbidity, pain severity or disability. 2. Referral for arthroscopic lavageand debridement should not be offered as part of treatment for osteoarthritis, unless the person has knee osteoarthritis with a clear history of mechanical locking. 3. Healthcare professionals should consider offering topical NSAIDs for pain relief in addition to core treatment. 4. Healthcare professionals should consider offering paracetamaol for pain relief in addition to core treatment. 5. Referral for joint placement surgery should be considered for people with osteoarthritis who experience joint sypmtoms pain, stiffness, and reduced function) that have a substantial impact on their quality of life and are refractory to non-sugical treatment.
RioMed’s Cellma, offers healthcare professionals a comprehensive way to offer optimal treatment and management of osteoarthritis to patients. From inception, customized assessments facilitate the easy documentation on all patient data, both medical and personal. The lifestyle section of this assessment would prove to be very useful particularly for an illness of this nature. Cellma is also equipped with a pharmacy module which would make prescribing and dispensing of the relative drugs quick and easy. Patients can also be reminded of repeat prescriptions. Dashboards would allow for the comparison of data between patients in your service, and the formulation of generalizations in terms of the effectiveness of different forms of treatment. For more information: The Care and Management of Osteoarthritis in AdultsFor further information or to set up a demonstration please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it |
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| Last Updated ( Thursday, 01 July 2010 ) |