Chronic pain
Referral and follow-up of osteoarthritis-associated chronic pain

Yulia (71 years old)

Yulia, aged 71, is a retired librarian who enjoys visiting museums.

Besides being overweight (BMI: 28), she has no notable medical history and does not smoke nor drinks alcohol.

Over the past 5 years, her motility has progressively decreased due to surging joint pain in her hips and knees. At first, she managed the pain by occasionally taking over-the-counter NSAIDs, but due to worsening of her condition with recent signs of inflammation in her knee (swelling and feeling of warmth), she now presents to your clinic.

In addition to adequate pain assessment and history taking, which of the following diagnostic tests would you prescribe to correctly diagnose this patient?