Diagnosing synovitisĪ rheumatologist will aim to diagnose the cause of the patient’s pain by first determining whether it is inside the joint itself, meaning true synovitis, or if it is actually caused by an inflammation of the tendons, referred to as tendonitis (sometimes spelled tendinitis). However, when synovitis is caused by overuse of a joint, the pain usually remains in one spot. The symptoms are often short-lived and may be felt in different parts of the body at different times. In other words, there may be no visible evidence of injury or swelling that is causing pain. The chief symptom is arthralgia, which is Greek for “joint pain.” The pain of synovitis is usually more severe than expected based on the appearance of the joint. ( Osteoarthritis, the more common form of the arthritis, does not involve this type of inflammatory response.)Īrthroscopic camera view of the inside of a knee joint, showing synovitis next to the femoral condyle (upper portion of the femur or thighbone). In these patients, excessive growth of the synovium is part of an abnormal immune response, where the body misidentifies its own natural cartilage as a foreign substance that must be attacked.Ĭartilage loss eventually damages the joint surface and leads to the stiffness and pain characteristic of all types of arthritis.
However, synovitis is also common in people who have some form of inflammatory arthritis. In an active, healthy person, the most common cause of synovitis is overuse of the joint, for example in athletes or people whose jobs involve repetitive stress movement such as lifting or squatting. Contained inside both layers is synovial fluid, a viscous liquid that lubricates the joint to reduce friction on the articular cartilage during motion. It is composed of a tough, outer layer called the fibrous stratum and a soft inside layer (the synovium). The synovium, which is also sometimes called the stratum synoviale or synovial stratum, is connective tissue that lines the inside of the joint capsule.Ī joint capsule, also called an articular capsule, is a bubble-like structure that surrounds joints such as the shoulder, elbow, wrist, hand, knee, foot and ankle. Synovial fluid analysis.Synovitis (or synovial inflammation) is when the synovium of a joint becomes inflamed (swollen).Current Opinion in Rheumatology, 23(2), 161–169 What is a synovial joint? Retrieved from Best Practice & Research Clinical Rheumatology, 27(2), 137–169 Joint aspiration and injection and synovial fluid analysis. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy. We link primary sources - including studies, scientific references, and statistics - within each article and also list them in the resources section at the bottom of our articles. Medical News Today has strict sourcing guidelines and draws only from peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical journals and associations. For example, they can rule out infection using a blood culture test, which tells them whether or not a person has an infection elsewhere in the body. For a complete diagnosis, a doctor will also need to consider a person’s medical history, conduct imaging tests, and carry out a physical examination.Ī doctor may also order other blood or urine tests alongside the synovial fluid analysis to help them make a diagnosis.
Further testingĭoctors cannot diagnose a condition based on the results of a synovial fluid analysis alone, but this test can help them make an accurate diagnosis. Other tests, such as gram stain or culture tests, can also detect the presence of microorganisms. the presence of microorganisms, such as bacteria or fungi, which could be due to an infection.the presence of crystals, which can signify gout or pseudogout.an abnormally high red blood cell count, which could indicate a bleeding disorder.
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