24th February 2025

Investigation of OA

The mainstay of diagnosis in OA is a comprehensive clinical assessment, where the history and examination findings are correlated, augmented by radiological studies. Of note, the radiological findings of X-rays correlate poorly with the described severity of symptoms and, indeed, the function of the joint in terms of daily living activities. The typical X-ray findings are: loss of joint space, subchondral sclerosis, subchondral cysts and osteophyte formation (see Figure 2).

Image source: Wikimedia Commons (2012). Osteoarthritis left knee, Licensed under a Creative Commons licence. Available for free at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Osteoarthritis_left_knee.jpg (Accessed: 17 January 2024).

Laboratory investigations are rarely required, and if they are, it is to exclude other causes, such as crystal arthropathy (where joint aspiration for microscopy may be indicated) or RA (where inflammatory markers will be raised and auto-antibodies likely detected).