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Case Reports
. 2018 Jul-Aug;8(4):32-34.
doi: 10.13107/jocr.2250-0685.1146.

First Presentation of Acute Pseudogout Following Total Knee Replacement

Miltiadis Argyropoulos  1 , K P Iyengar  1 , K H Suraliwala  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

First Presentation of Acute Pseudogout Following Total Knee Replacement

Miltiadis Argyropoulos et al. J Orthop Case Rep. 2018 Jul-Aug.

Abstract

Introduction: Infection of a total knee replacement (TKR) is a very serious complication of knee arthroplasty surgery as the repercussions for the patient often include long-term antibiotics, further surgery, revision surgery, and worse outcomes in the long-term including increased morbidity and mortality. As such, the careful assessment of a patient presenting with an acutely inflamed TKR is of paramount importance.

Case report: We report a case of a patient presenting with the clinical signs and symptoms of an acute infection of their TKR. The patient was ultimately diagnosed as having pseudogout.

Conclusion: This case illustrates that crystal arthropathy must be one of the differential diagnoses for a suspected infection of a TKR, as failure to recognize this may result in unnecessary and detrimental treatment.

Keywords: Arthroplasty; Pseudogout; Total knee replacement; Unicompartmental knee replacement.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: Nil

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Radiograph of total knee replacement at presentation.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Radiograph of knee pre-operatively.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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