[Committee Members’ Comments] The heat wave continues in BBQ mode, be careful of getting sick with air conditioners

What is air conditioning disease?

According to the recent monitoring and assessment by the National Climate Center, the comprehensive intensity of regional high temperature events this year has reached the strongest level since the complete meteorological observation records were kept. We who continue to BBQ and cook during the day and at night need air conditioning to keep alive. If we stay in an air-conditioned environment for a long time, we must be careful to prevent "air-conditioning disease".

What is "air conditioning disease"

The so-called "air-conditioning disease" refers to some uncomfortable symptoms caused by air conditioning, such as dry throat, nasal congestion, runny nose, headache, joint pain, etc.

There is one air-conditioning-related disease that orthopedic surgeons often encounter, and you must know about it: osteoarthritis of the knee.

If we compare our bodies to cars, our knee joints are the tires of the car. As long as the car starts, the tires will wear out. As we age, the knee joints will undergo degenerative changes. If they are overused or over-stimulated, they will develop osteoarthritis prematurely.

The temperature of the air conditioner is too low. The cold will cause the micro-arteries in our knee joints to contract, local blood circulation to reverse, and microcirculation disorders to occur, which will cause the release of pain-causing substances and inflammatory mediators, and pathological changes such as inflammation, edema, and ischemia in the knee joint tissues, leading to knee pain. At the same time, the cold stimulation will accelerate the degeneration of our knee joint cartilage. Over time, it will cause us to suffer from knee osteoarthritis.

How to prevent "air-conditioning disease" - osteoarthritis of the knee?

Ensure that the air-conditioning temperature is within the human body's comfortable range of 25-28 degrees Celsius. If the air-conditioning temperature cannot be adjusted, add or remove clothing according to the temperature.

Do not expose your knee joints directly in an air-conditioned environment, and avoid air conditioning and fan wind blowing directly onto your knee joints. Do not turn on the air conditioner or enter an air-conditioned room immediately after exercise. You can wipe your body with a normal temperature towel first, and then turn on the air conditioner after your body temperature drops.

Physical exercise should be carried out gradually to prevent excessive movement and load on joints, avoid mechanical injury to joints, reduce weight and reduce joint load.

What if the joint is severely damaged?

When the function of the knee joint is severely impaired, joint replacement surgery is often necessary.

Q: Does knee replacement require the replacement of the entire knee joint?

A: Everyone's condition is different. Some people need total knee replacement, while others can achieve satisfactory results by replacing only 1/3 of the knee joint, which is called unicompartmental knee replacement.

What is a unicompartmental knee replacement?

Unicompartmental knee replacement is a new minimally invasive surgery compared to total knee replacement.

The knee joint consists of three parts: the medial tibiofemoral compartment, the lateral tibiofemoral compartment, and the patellofemoral compartment. About 1/3 of patients have early lesions limited to only one compartment. Simply replacing the damaged cartilage surface of the knee joint can achieve the treatment effect, which can maximize the patient's proprioception and joint function.

Which patients need unicompartmental hip replacement?

Unicompartmental knee replacement may be an option for patients with the following conditions:

1. Unilateral compartment lesions of the knee joint without severe patellofemoral joint lesions;

2. Genu varum;

3. The knee joint ligament structure is intact;

4. Non-inflammatory arthritis, such as osteoarthritis, traumatic arthritis, etc.;

5. Bone necrosis.

What are the unique advantages of unicompartmental hip arthroplasty?

Compared with total knee replacement, unicompartmental knee replacement has the following advantages:

1. The surgery only removes the diseased joint surface, and more bone is preserved than total knee replacement;

2. Preserve the anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments without excessive soft tissue release;

3. Fewer implanted foreign bodies (including metal, polyethylene, and bone cement);

4. The advantages are short incision (only 6 to 8 cm), less trauma, less bleeding, less pain and faster recovery;

5. The surgery to install the prosthesis only takes 20-30 minutes. The patient can get out of bed on the same day after the surgery, and the range of motion can easily reach 90°. The patient can take care of himself in about a week.

6. It feels natural and works almost the same as your own joint, with shorter hospital stay and lower costs.

Dr. Cheng would like to remind everyone here, do not seek coolness under the scorching sun, be careful of "air-conditioning disease", care for your health and joints, and start now!

Expert Recommendation:

Qian Cheng, PhD

Associate Chief Physician, Deputy Chief Administrative Officer of Orthopedics Department

Associate Professor, Master's Supervisor

Tongren Hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, deputy director of Shanghai Sports Medicine Youth Committee, standing committee member of Shanghai Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Sports Medicine Association, member of the Popular Science Health Education Working Committee of China Medical Education Association, young member of Shanghai Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Orthopedic Injury Committee, member of the Joint Surgery Group of the Orthopedic Innovation and Transformation Professional Committee of the Chinese Research Hospital Association, member of the Bone and Cartilage Regeneration and Repair Professional Committee, editorial board member of the Chinese Journal of Osteoporosis, special reviewer of the Asian Artificial Joint Society's Arthroplasty, reviewer of the SCI magazine International Journal of Molecular Medicine, reviewer of the Journal of Practical Medicine and Chinese Journal of Tissue Engineering Research. He went to Johanna Etienne Hospital in Germany for exchange and study, and studied joint replacement and arthroscopic techniques under Professor Jerosch, chairman of the German Shoulder and Elbow Surgery Conference, chairman of the Southern German Orthopedic Society, and a famous sports medicine and joint surgery expert. He is good at computer-navigated robot-assisted minimally invasive unicompartmental knee replacement for osteoarthritis of the knee, and is proficient in performing joint replacement and arthroscopic treatment of the hip, knee, shoulder, elbow and ankle, especially in the arthroscopic treatment of frozen shoulder, rotator cuff injury, and knee meniscus and ligament injury.

Clinic Hours:

【All day on Monday】 Bone and joint specialist clinic

【Wednesday morning】 Orthopedic special clinic

【Friday morning】 Bone and joint specialist clinic

Contributor: Cheng Qianfangdan, Department of Orthopedics