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Joint Inflammation Treatment in Catania

Arthritis care for the knee, hand, shoulder and other joints can include PRP and SVF cell therapy, always after a doctor checks your case and tests

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Knee joint: regenerative treatment without surgery
Joint treatment without surgery. Free consultation and review of your scans

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What it is

What is arthritis
and when does this treatment fit?

With arthritis, a joint is inflamed. Signs to watch for: pain while resting and at night, morning stiffness lasting more than half an hour, swelling, redness and warmth over the joint. There are several causes — autoimmune conditions (rheumatoid, psoriatic arthritis), gout, infection or an injury from the past.

  • No surgery — an injection instead of an operation
  • Own tissue — your blood and adipose tissue
  • Ultrasound guidance for every injection
Knee joint: an injection under ultrasound guidance

Who the treatment suits

An examination and a review of your scans come first; then a doctor decides whether the treatment suits you

Suitable

A doctor reviews knee X-rays with a patient
  • Pain, crunching or stiffness in a joint
  • Painkillers only help for a short time
  • Recovery after injuries and surgery
  • You need a second opinion on your scans
  • You want to avoid or postpone joint replacement
  • Early or moderate arthrosis or arthritis
  • High load on the joints — sport or physical work

Not suitable

A doctor examines a patient's knee
  • Cancer
  • Pregnancy
  • Blood clotting disorders
  • Acute infections, including infection in or near the joint
  • Flare-up of a serious chronic illness
  • Temporary contraindications: inflamed skin above the treated joint, fever, a cold or the flu

Not sure the treatment is right for you?

Leave your number — the coordinator will ask for your scans (X-ray, MRI or ultrasound), and the doctor will tell you whether treatment without surgery suits you.

Find out if it suits me

What we treat

Conditions we treat

How it works

How the procedure goes: step by step

Consultation and scan review1

Consultation and scan review

If you already have scans, send them before the visit: the doctor examines the joint, reviews your X-rays, MRI or ultrasound and decides whether the procedure suits you.

Blood sample for PRP2

Blood sample for PRP

A vein provides a small amount of blood, which is later used to prepare platelet-rich plasma rich in growth factors.

Adipose tissue sample3

Adipose tissue sample

About 30 ml of adipose tissue is taken through a puncture on the abdomen or inner thigh, under local anaesthetic; the puncture needs no stitches.

Processing in a centrifuge4

Processing in a centrifuge

Separated into layers by spinning in a centrifuge, the sample yields the stromal vascular fraction, which is isolated and mixed with the platelet-rich plasma.

Injection into the joint5

Injection into the joint

The prepared material is placed precisely: it is injected directly into the affected joint under ultrasound guidance.

Follow-up6

Follow-up

Without crutches and without a hospital stay: after the procedure the doctor stays in touch and follows the joint's response.

Book a consultation

Call or message us — our coordinator will contact you shortly and book your consultation

A doctor talks with a patient about joint treatment
Book a consultation
A doctor talks with a patient about joint treatment

Results

After the procedure

  • Doctor talking warmly with a patient after the procedure

    1 week

    The joint may ache a little more — this is an expected reaction.

  • Doctor consulting an older patient one month after treatment

    1 month

    The pain usually eases.

  • Doctor explaining progress to a patient using a knee joint model

    ~3 months

    Mobility and activity improve.

  • Doctor and patient walking together at a follow-up visit

    ~6 months

    The full effect develops.

How long it lasts differs from person to person and depends on the stage of the condition, body weight, activity and other factors — no one can promise a fixed result.

Comparison

Methods we use

Only material from your body — your blood and adipose tissue — and nothing synthetic or from a donor

Cell therapy (SVF) from your own adipose tissue

Processing a small sample of adipose tissue from your body isolates the stromal vascular fraction (SVF) — cells that play a part in tissue repair. This is combined with your plasma and injected straight into the affected joint.

A doctor explains SVF cell therapy for the knee to a patient on a tablet

After the acute flare settles, inflammatory arthritis can be treated with it for its action on tissue repair and local inflammation.

Material
Your adipose tissue and plasma
How it is given
Into the joint, under ultrasound
Duration
The whole procedure is done in one day.

PRP — platelet-rich plasma from your own blood

A small amount of your blood is used to separate plasma rich in platelets and growth factors, which is then injected into the joint. It helps settle inflammation and gives tissue repair better conditions.

A doctor explains PRP therapy for joints to a patient on a monitor

It may form one part of the overall treatment plan in rheumatoid and other types of inflammatory arthritis.

Material
Your blood from a vein
How it is given
Into the joint, under ultrasound
Duration
The whole procedure is done in one day.

The benefits and timings shown are averaged and given for guidance: the plan and recovery depend on your joint and individual features, and the doctor confirms them at the consultation.

At the consultation the doctor will review your scans and suggest a treatment plan

Free consultation

Book a consultation

Joints

Joints we treat

After going through your scans, the doctor selects the joint, the method and the number of injections — whether the joint is large or small

  • KneeKneeCartilage that has worn, meniscus trouble, pain after walks and on stairs
  • HipHipEarly hip osteoarthritis, groin pain, limited rotation
  • ShoulderShoulderWorn joint and nearby tendons, and pain when the arm is raised
  • ElbowElbowPain after overuse or sports strain, wear of the joint surfaces
  • Hand and wrist jointsHand and wrist jointsSmall finger and wrist joints that feel stiff and hurt
  • AnkleAnklePain and stiffness after sprains and old injuries

Advantages

Why patients choose City Medical Centre

Treatment without surgery that sets out to keep your own joint instead of replacing it

Your own tissue

Your own tissue

Only material from your body — your blood and adipose tissue — and nothing synthetic or from a donor

No crutches

No crutches

Instead of incisions we use punctures, with local anaesthetic and no long rehabilitation

Second opinion

Second opinion

Send X-rays, MRI results or reports and a doctor will assess them independently and free of charge

Support after the procedure

Support after the procedure

We stay in touch after the procedure and follow the result, not just the day of the injection

About the clinic

A clinic where you can feel at ease

Modern equipment, comfortable rooms and care for every patient

A doctor and a patient at the clinic

Contact us the way that suits you

We will answer your questions and find a convenient time for a consultation

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Request a free call

Price

Arthritis treatment prices

The doctor names the cost after the consultation, because it depends on the joint, the type of arthritis and the method

FAQ

Joint treatment: frequently asked questions

About the conditions

More about these conditions

Other services of our clinic

Arthritis treatment in Catania: what you should know

Arthritis is inflammation of a joint. For patients from Catania, typical signs are pain at rest and at night, morning stiffness that lasts longer than half an hour, swelling, redness and warmth over the joint.

No crutches and no hospital stay are needed. The puncture sites are small and covered with dressings, and the doctor stays in touch with patients in Catania after the procedure.

The cost of arthritis treatment depends on the joint, the type of arthritis and the method, so the price is set at the consultation. For patients from Catania, the first consultation and review of your scans are free. Leave your name and phone number to book.

Reading a flare: what the joint tells you before any scan does

Inflammatory arthritis is defined by an inflamed joint. In practice that means pain at night or at rest, morning stiffness that lasts longer than half an hour, swelling, and a joint that looks red and feels warm. Wear-related osteoarthritis behaves differently. It tends to show up as a dry crunch and an aching pain that grows with movement. If your knee, wrist or finger joints fit the first description, the cause may be autoimmune (rheumatoid or psoriatic arthritis), gout, an infection or an old injury. Each of these needs a different plan.

For anyone in Catania, an online consultation starts with a simple question: which of these signs do you actually have, and how often? The doctor will ask about them during the consultation, then look at your X-ray, MRI or ultrasound. Tell the coordinator in advance which joints are affected, whether the problem is on one side or both, and whether the joint was hot or swollen at the time. That is more useful than a general statement such as "my knees hurt".

The treatment described here, PRP and SVF injections from your own blood and adipose tissue, is not a replacement for a rheumatologist's care of a systemic disease. It is an addition to it. The doctor first confirms the type of arthritis, and then waits for the right moment. Nothing is injected during a severe flare or an active joint infection. Rheumatoid arthritis cannot be cured with these injections, and psoriatic arthritis is a chronic disease with no complete cure. The realistic aim is to keep inflammation under control and protect the joint, and regenerative injections may be one part of that plan once the acute phase has settled.

That timing matters for your planning. If your joint is hot, red and swollen right now, the first conversation will probably be about calming the flare with your own rheumatologist. A later conversation may be about PRP or SVF. Telling the coordinator exactly when the last flare started and ended helps the doctor choose the right moment.

Sun, dry summers and damp winters: what a Catania symptom diary can record

Many people with arthritis suspect the weather of affecting their joints. The service text makes no claim about weather and joint pain, so treat it as a question for your doctor, not a rule. A diary lets you gather evidence instead of impressions. The setting is fairly distinctive. Catania sits on the east coast of Sicily, on the Ionian Sea, at the foot of Mount Etna. In the 1991-2020 averages for the Catania-Sigonella station, the July mean high is 35.1 °C with a low of 21.4 °C, and August reaches 35.5 °C and 22.3 °C. In January the mean high is 17.5 °C and the low is 6.3 °C. A temperature of 40 °C is passed a couple of times in most years, and the record high is 46.7 °C.

Rain follows a clear seasonal pattern. Annual precipitation is 483.8 mm on 50.7 days with at least 1 mm. December (78.5 mm) and November (66.2 mm) are the wettest months, while July has only 7.8 mm and August 9.8 mm, and July averages 0.4 rainy days. Relative humidity averages 70.3% over the year. Sunshine totals 3,225.9 hours a year, from 381.6 hours in June down to 182.3 in December.

Use those contrasts to design your diary. Each day, note the following:

- A pain score from 0 to 10.

- How many minutes the morning stiffness lasted. The text uses 30 minutes as the benchmark.

- Whether the joint was swollen, red or warm.

- Whether night pain woke you.

- What you did that day: a long walk, a day on your feet, a rest day.

- The outdoor weather and, if you track it, how humid the room felt.

- Any medication you took and when.

Keep it up through a damp November or December and a hot, dry August, and the doctor can see whether anything changes across the seasons. Without those notes, it is only a guess. Snow is almost absent from the record: the last snowfall was on 17 December 1988, with a light fall on 9 February 2015. So cold is not likely to be the issue. Heat, dryness and winter dampness are the swings worth recording.

One point about the diary and the treatment: the text says a high load on the joints, such as sport or physical work, makes the treatment relevant, but that your activity, body weight and the stage of the condition also affect how long any result lasts. A diary that records your activity level therefore helps the doctor judge expectations more realistically.

National health cover and specialist access: how to combine the SSN with an online opinion

Italy's Servizio Sanitario Nazionale (SSN) was established in 1978 and provides universal coverage to citizens and residents. It is organised on a regional basis, and national Essential Levels of Care (LEA) are set by the Ministry of Health. For a person with arthritis in Catania, this means your rheumatology follow-up, blood tests and the prescription of your systemic therapy normally run through the public system. An online consultation with City Medical Centre does not replace that. It adds a second view on your scans and on whether regenerative injections could fit into your care.

Access takes time. Waiting times are usually up to a few months in the big public facilities, while private facilities contracted with the SSN usually manage up to a few weeks. No official waiting-list figure was found, so treat these as general descriptions, not promises. If you are waiting for a rheumatology appointment, a free review of your existing scans and reports can help you prepare for it. You arrive with your questions already formed, and you know which results the specialist is likely to ask for.

Specialist visits under the SSN carry a co-payment, called a ticket. Exemptions exist by age (over 65 and under 6), by income, and for chronic illness. A long-term inflammatory condition may therefore bring exemptions for related visits, but check with your health authority or your general practitioner what applies to you. We make no statement on the amounts. The online consultation and review of your scans with City Medical Centre is free. Any price for PRP or cell therapy is given by the doctor after the consultation, because it depends on the joint, the method and the type of arthritis.

There is also evidence that patients from the poorer southern regions move to the more prosperous north for care. If you have been making long journeys within Italy for appointments, an online consultation may let you sort out the first step from home. It cannot do everything: injections are done in person, under ultrasound guidance. But reviewing your scans, history and questions does not need your physical presence.

Preparing for the online consultation: files, questions and a clean timeline

A good preparation makes a 24/7 WhatsApp or Telegram conversation with the coordinator efficient, because the coordinator will ask for your scans (X-ray, MRI or ultrasound). Gather the following before you write:

- Scans in the original digital form if you have them, or clear photos of the reports.

- Recent blood test results, if you have any. The text mentions that a doctor reviews blood test results too.

- A list of the joints involved, with the date each first became painful.

- The diagnosis you were given, if any, and who gave it: rheumatoid, psoriatic, gout, infection, a past injury.

- The names of the medications you take for the disease, with dose and timing as your rheumatologist prescribed them.

- A short account of any past injury or operation on the joint.

- Your diary, if you have started one.

Then write down your questions. Examples: Is my joint inflamed now, or is it mainly worn? Is this the right moment, or should we wait for the flare to settle? Which joint should be treated first? Does anything in my history make the procedure unsuitable?

Your history matters because some conditions rule the treatment out, at least for now. The text lists cancer, pregnancy, blood clotting disorders, acute infections (including infection in or near the joint) and a flare-up of a serious chronic illness. Temporary reasons to postpone include a fever, a cold or flu, or any skin inflammation over the joint that is planned for treatment. Be honest about all of these. If you have had a fever this week, say so. The doctor would rather postpone than proceed.

Holidays are not an obstacle for the conversation. Coordinators answer 24/7, and the first reply is quick. National holidays in Italy include 1 January, 6 January, Easter Monday, 25 April, 1 May, 2 June, 15 August, 4 October, 1 November, 8 December, 25 December and 26 December, and every Sunday counts as a holiday. Catania also marks Sant'Agata on 5 February, with festivities beginning on 3 February, and that date is not on the national list. For example, on 5 February 2027 you can still send your scans and receive a reply. Public offices that handle your referrals, though, may keep different hours on those days, so plan any paperwork around them.

What happens after the injection: a realistic timeline to log in your diary

The procedure is done in one day. For the cell therapy, a blood sample is taken from a vein, then roughly 30 ml of adipose tissue is collected under local anaesthetic through a single puncture on the abdomen or the inner thigh. No stitches are needed. A centrifuge spins the sample into layers, the stromal vascular fraction is isolated and added to the platelet-rich plasma, and the material is injected into the affected joint with ultrasound guidance. PRP alone uses only the blood sample. There are no crutches and no hospital stay.

The text gives an averaged timeline, for guidance only:

- After 1 week, the joint may ache a little more. This is an expected reaction.

- After 1 month, the pain usually eases.

- At about 3 months, mobility and activity improve.

- At about 6 months, the full effect develops.

How long any benefit lasts differs from person to person. It depends on the stage of the condition, body weight, activity and other factors, and no one can promise a fixed result. This is where the diary comes back. Continuing the same daily entries after the injection gives the doctor and you a like-for-like comparison: the morning stiffness minutes, the night pain, the swelling. If the first week is more uncomfortable than you expected, your notes will show whether it is the expected reaction or something to report. The doctor stays in touch after the procedure and follows how the joint responds.

Remember also that the doctor, after reviewing your scans, selects the joint, the method and the number of injections. The text mentions the knee, hip, shoulder, elbow, the small joints of the hand and wrist, and the ankle. For inflammatory arthritis, SVF is applied after the acute flare has calmed, because of its effect on local inflammation and tissue repair, and PRP is always one part of the overall plan.

Can I start a symptom diary before I contact the coordinator, and what should it contain?

Yes, and it is one of the most useful things you can do. Record a daily pain score, how many minutes your morning stiffness lasts (the benchmark is 30 minutes), whether the joint is swollen, red or warm, whether night pain wakes you, your activity, the day's weather and any medication taken. Even two or three weeks of entries help the doctor see a pattern.

Does the hot, dry Catania summer or the damp winter affect arthritis?

The medical text we work from makes no claim about weather causing flares, so the doctor will not give you a rule. What you can do is log it. July is very dry (7.8 mm of rain on average) with a mean high of 35.1 °C, while December is the wettest month (78.5 mm). Noting your symptoms across those contrasts gives the doctor real data to discuss.

Will my SSN specialist care be affected if I take an online consultation?

No. The consultation adds a second opinion and does not replace your rheumatologist or the care the SSN provides. PRP and SVF are described as working alongside, not instead of, a rheumatologist's care for a systemic disease. Keep taking the therapy your specialist prescribes unless that specialist advises otherwise.

How long might I wait for a public rheumatology appointment, and can the online review help meanwhile?

General descriptions of Italian healthcare say waits are usually up to a few months in big public facilities, and up to a few weeks in private facilities contracted with the SSN, though no official figure was found. While you wait, you can send your scans and reports for a free review, so you arrive at the appointment with clearer questions.

Are there co-payment exemptions I should check for a chronic inflammatory condition?

Specialist visits under the SSN carry a ticket, and exemptions exist by age (over 65 and under 6), by income and for chronic illness. Which exemption applies to you depends on your situation, so ask your health authority or general practitioner. We cannot confirm it for you.

Can I send files on a public holiday such as 1 November or 8 December?

Yes. Coordinators answer round the clock on WhatsApp and Telegram, including holidays. The doctor will not rush a decision, but you can send scans and get an acknowledgement at any time. Offices that handle your referrals or prescriptions may work differently on holidays, so plan those separately.

Should I wait for my flare to end before contacting you?

No, contact us whenever you are ready. The doctor will assess where you are in the cycle during the consultation. If you are in a severe flare or have an active joint infection, the procedure is not done at that time and will be postponed. You can still get the free review of your scans in the meantime.

What should I say about my other illnesses and medicines?

Tell the coordinator about any cancer history, pregnancy, blood clotting disorder, recent fever, cold or flu, skin inflammation near the joint, and any serious chronic illness that is flaring. These can make the treatment unsuitable, either permanently or for the time being, and the doctor decides after hearing the full picture.