Total knee arthroplasty failure and gouty arthropathy.
We present a patient with gout and a total knee arthroplasty that failed secondary to infection. The English literature records only 5 other cases of gouty attacks after total knee arthroplasty. Symptoms, presentation, and laboratory tests do not definitively differentiate between infection and gout, but crystals in the joint aspirate are diagnostic. This case stresses the importance of recognizing crystalline arthropathy as a source of a painful knee and as a complicating factor during revision surgery.
Department of Orthopedic Surgery, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21224-2780, USA.
Michael T
MT
Freehill
Edward F
EF
McCarthy
Harpal S
HS
Khanuja
D000368:Aged; D015210:Arthritis, Gouty / Q000601:surgery*; D019645:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000601:surgery; D007720:Knee Prosthesis; D011475:Prosthesis Failure; D016459:Prosthesis-Related Infections / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D012086:Reoperation