THE ROLE OF KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF VARICOSE VEINS IN THE LOWER EXTREMITIES

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the role of arthritis of the knee joint in the development and progression of varicose veins of the lower extremities. Methods: An observational cross-sectional cohort study was conducted on 180 patients. There were 56 (31.1%) males and 124 (68.9%) females with VVs of the lower extremities. The VVs' clinical features were studied according to the presence or absence of knee osteoarthritis. The study group (SG) included 88 patients with KOA in combination with VVs. The control group (CG) comprised 92 people suffering from VVs and not having a degenerative joint disease of the knee. Both groups of patients were comparable in terms of basic demographic parameters, disease duration and body mass index. Results: In the SG, oedema and skin trophic changes of the lower limbs (lipodermatosclerosis, eczema) were observed in 39 and 21 cases, respectively. The number amounts to 68.2%, which was 33.4% more compared to the percentage of the CG cases (34.8%, n=32). In the presence of KOA, a varicose transformation of both saphenous veins and their tributaries was more often noted in 36 (40.9%) cases, whereas in CG patients, VVs development occurred only in 6 (6.5%) cases. On the contrary, an isolated varicose transformation of the great saphenous vein (GSV) and its tributaries was more common among CG compared to SG patients, at 93.5% and 55.7%, respectively. Among the examined cohort, the incidence of isolated disease of the small saphenous vein (SSV) and insufficiency of its ostial valve had no significant difference between SG and CG patients and occurred in 3.4% and 6.5% of cases, respectively. In SG patients, concurrent incompetence of the ostial valves of the GSV and SSV (n=39; 44.3%) and insufficiency of leg perforating veins (n=60; 68.2%) were more often noted. In the CG, perforator reflux and incompetence of the communicating veins were present only in 6 (6.5%) and 32 (34.8%) patients, respectively. The mean GSV ostial diameter in SG and CG patients was significantly different and amounted to 12.1±1.4 mm and 8.2±0.9 mm, respectively. Varicose dilatation of the superficial veins of both lower extremities was most often noted in the SG than in CG, 90.9% and 39.1% of the patients, respectively. There was a direct correlation between the KOA stage and such factors as VVs class (r=0.58; p<0.001), the laterality of lower limbs involvement (r=0.63; p<0.001) and disease recurrence (r= 0.59; p<0.001). Conclusion: Degenerative joint disease of the knee, in which the locomotor function of the limb is impaired, can act as one of the risk factors for the development or progression of varicose transformation of the superficial veins of the lower extremities. Therefore, further research is needed to study the lower limb biomechanics in patients with VV, with and without KOA. Keywords: Varicose veins, knee osteoarthritis, venous hypertension, ostial valve incompetence.