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.

Sources

Reviewed September 2026

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