Osteoarthritis
Musculoskeletal · ~8% of blueprint- Pathophysiology
- Whole-joint disease: mechanical stress + protease-mediated cartilage loss, bone remodeling, osteophytes, synovitis.
- Signs & Symptoms
- Activity-related joint pain that improves with rest, brief morning stiffness (<30 min), Heberden/Bouchard nodes.
- Gold Standard Diagnosis
- Clinical + X-ray (joint-space narrowing, osteophytes, subchondral sclerosis); normal inflammatory markers.
- First-line Treatment
- Exercise/weight loss (strong); oral NSAIDs, topical NSAIDs (knee); intra-articular steroids (knee/hip); acetaminophen conditional.
High-Yield Pearl
OA: brief stiffness (<30 min), pain worse with use, better with rest. RA: morning stiffness >1 h after rest/sleep.
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Sources
Reviewed September 2026- 2019 American College of Rheumatology/Arthritis Foundation Guideline for the Management of Osteoarthritis of the Hand, Hip, and Knee — American College of Rheumatology / Arthritis Foundation, 2019
- StatPearls: Osteoarthritis — StatPearls Publishing / NCBI Bookshelf, 2026
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