A hot, swollen joint in a cirrhotic patient.
Septic arthritis in the elderly carries a high mortality. Underlying risk factors, such as diabetes, malignancy, chronic renal failure, rheumatoid arthritis, hepatobiliary disease and AIDS, should be assessed. Rare causative organisms are occasionally encountered. Here, we describe a case of an 80-year-old diabetic patient with liver cirrhosis who developed Klebsiella pneumoniae septic arthritis, which is a rare cause of joint infection. We postulate that this case supports the notion that the patient's knee effusion seeded during a primary K pneumoniae bacteraemia of intestinal origin and related to liver cirrhosis.
Department of Medicine, William Harvey Hospital, Ashford, UK. eugeneomakobia@doctors.org.uk
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Omakobia
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Hossain
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Nash
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Uhuegbu
D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000209:etiology; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D019980:Amoxicillin-Potassium Clavulanate Combination / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001170:Arthritis, Infectious / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000150:complications; D002969:Clavulanic Acids / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D006801:Humans; D007710:Klebsiella Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology; D007711:Klebsiella pneumoniae; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000382:microbiology*; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000150:complications; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000150:complications; D008297:Male; D013982:Ticarcillin / Q000627:therapeutic use
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D002969:Clavulanic Acids; D019980:Amoxicillin-Potassium Clavulanate Combination; C043215:ticarcillin-clavulanic acid; D013982:Ticarcillin