Osteoarthritis--an inflammatory disease?

ABSTRACT

From a study of 160 cases of osteoarthritis (OA), including photographs from gross examination, arthroscopy, radionuclide scanning and histological preparations including crystal deposits from synovial fluid, it is concluded that OA may be regarded as an inflammatory condition for which the use of non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs rather than pure analgesics should be encouraged.