3. INTRODUCTION
Knee joint is prone to number of disorders that present
essentially with Swelling.
Gross swelling around the knee is a knee swelling that is
obvious on inspection
Knee is a mobile, weight bearing joint which function
depends on structures around it
4. Gross swelling around the knee will impair joint function
resulting in morbidity, reduction in quality of life, and
even mortality
Gross knee swelling most commonly result from knee
injuries.
5. Classification
Swelling of the entire joint eg Heamearthrosis, Septic
artheritis, OA
Swellings in front of the joint eg Bursitis
Swellings behind the joint eg popliteal cyst
Bony swellings eg Exostosis
6. a) Tuberculous arthritis
b) Rheumatoid arthritis
c) Charcot’s disease
d) Villous synovitis
e) Haemophilia
f) Malignant synovioma
20. History
Biodata – Age, Sex, Occupation
Complaint – Swelling around the knee
- Onset- Rapid or slow
- site
- extend
- Diffused or localised
- other joint affectation
21. Determine the aetiology
- Trauma
- Fever, pain
- Chronic cough, Weight loss and night sweat
- Insidious, recurrent assoc. with pain
- Recurrent, history of bleeding
- Painless, Slow growing and localised
- Anoresia, weight loss and easy fatigue
22. History of previous interventions eg Aspiration,
intraarticular injection
Past medical, surgical / Drug Hx
24. Tender, Tense or doughy – acute haemoarthrosis
Tender, Differential warmth, fluctuate - SA
Palpate thickening synovial membrane- TB or RA
Bony hard – Bone tumour
Attachment to skin or underlying structure – malignant
tumour
25. Check for features of
massive joint effusion
- Cross fluctuation
- patella tap
- Juxta-patellar hallor test
Limitation of movement
Test for Ligament/
meniscal injury
- Stress and Drawer tests
- EUA
Neurovascular status
26. INVESTIGATION
X-ray knee AP/Lat/
skyline/ stress
CT-Scan
MRI
FBC +diff
Erythrocyte
sedimentation rate (ESR)
- Elevate within 24- 48hrs
of onset of infection.
30. TreatmentDepend on the cause
1- Knee injuries
(a)Acute post traumatic Heamarthrosis
- Joint Aspiration
- PRICE”
- Compression with crepe bandage
- EUA
(b) Ligament injury-
- Non- operative care using “PRICER” regimen for sprain, incomplete
tear of ligament and isolated ligament injuries
- Primary arthroscopic repair
- Delayed repair
31. (b) Knee dislocation
Reduction under anaesthesia and repair of collateral
ligaments and capsule
(c) Intra articular fractures
- Anatomical reduction and fixation
- Image guided or open
35. 5- Heamophilic Atheritis
Is managed both by haematologist and orthopaedic
surgeon
Compression and Splintage
Clotting factor replacement
Aspiration
Joint replacement
36. 6 –Tumour
Benign – excision or curettage
Malignant bone tumour
- Grade IA : Curettage, marginal excision
- Grade IB : Wide Excision
- Grade IIA : Radical Excision
- Grade III : Multi-model approach
37. Conclusion
Gross swellings around the knee are common
presentation to trauma and orthopaedic surgeons. It
has multiple aetiology and variable methods of
management, thus require careful assessment and
precise diagnosis before a successful management
38. References
Ellis H. clinical Anatomy. Blackwell UK 2006. Part 4. The lower limb;
the knee joint.p229-233
Solomon L, Warwick D, Nayagam S. Apley’s system of orthopaedics
and fractures. 9th ed. Hodder Arnold UK.2010
Ebnezer J. Textbook of orthopedics. 4th ed. Jaypee brothers medical
pub. Ltd.2010. chapter 43. Bone neoplasias; P615- 642
Harwaood FS. Treatment of tuberclosis of the knee of the knee.
Postgrad. Med J 1964;40:549- 554
Sarimo J, Rantenen J, Heikkila J et al. Acute traumatic haemarthrosis of
the knee; is routine Arthroscopic examination necessary?. Scand J
surgn2002;91:361-364
The acutely swollen joint. The royl children’s hospital melbourne.
Carter W. red, sore, swollen joints.medwords.com.au
Resnick D. Diagnosis of Bone and Joint Disorders.4th Ed. Philadelphia,
WB Saunders, 2002.
Editor's Notes
it is such a large joint with a number of synovial recesses, the swelling is often painless until the tissues become tense
The knee is a hinge joint made up of the articulations between the femoral and tibial condyles and between the patella and the patellar surface of the
Femur. The capsule is attached to the margins of these articular surfaces but communicates above with the suprapatellar bursa (between the lower femoral shaft and the quadriceps), posteriorly with the bursa under the medial head of gastrocnemius and often, through it, with the bursa under semimembranosus. It may also communicate with the bursa under the lateral head of gastrocnemius. The capsule is also perforated posteriorly by
popliteus, which emerges from it in much the same way that the long head of biceps bursts out of the shoulder joint.
The capsule of the knee joint is reinforced on each side by the medial and
lateral collateral ligaments, the latter passing to the head of the fibula and
lying free from the capsule.
Anteriorly, the capsule is considerably strengthened by the ligamentum patellae, and, on each side of the patella, by the medial and lateral patellar retinacula, which are expansions from vastus medialis and lateralis. Posteriorly, the tough oblique ligament arises as an expansion from the insertion of semimembranosus and blends with the joint capsule
Within the joint are a number of important structures.
The cruciate ligaments are extremely strong connections between the tibia and femur. They arise from the anterior and posterior intercondylar areas of the superior aspect of the tibia, taking their names from their tibial origins, and pass obliquely upwards to attach to the intercondylar notch of the femur.
The anterior ligament resists forward displacement of the tibia on the femur and becomes taut in hyperextension of the knee, it also resists rotation, the posterior resists backward displacement of the tibia and becomes taut in hyperflexion.
The semilunar cartilages (menisci) are crescent-shaped and are triangular in cross-section, the medial being larger and less curved than the lateral. They are attached by their extremities to the tibial intercondylar area and by their periphery to the capsule of the joint, although the lateral cartilage is only loosely adherent and the popliteus tendon intervenes between it and the lateral collateral ligament. They deepen, although to only a negligible extent, the articulations between the tibial and femoral condyles and probably act as shock absorbers. If both menisci are removed, the knee can regain complete functional efficiency, although it is interesting that, following surgery, a rim of fibrocartilage regenerates from the connective tissue margin of the excised
menisci. An infrapatellar pad of fat fills the space between the ligamentum patellae and the femoral intercondylar notch. The synovium covering this pad projects into the joint as two folds termed the alar folds.
- Post operative knee swelling ;- This is largely due to intra-articular bleeding and inflammation of periarticular tissues
Haemoarthrosis
Causes—-complete tears of capsules/ligament
-Detachment of menisci
-Fractures near joint (patella fracture, intra articular fracture and supracondylar fracture)
These lead to rapid accumulation of blood (within 2—6 hrs)
Blood irritates synovial membrane, mucin production—very slowly reabsorbed
Knee joint swelling within 12 hours after an injury is, by definition, hemorrhage into the joint. An effusion that occurs after 12 hours suggests synovial fluid accumulation due to reactive synovitis, often due to cartilage or meniscus damage
synovitis Early changes are vascular congestion with new blood vessel formation, proliferation of synoviocytes and infiltration of the subsynovial layers
by polymorphs, lymphocytes and plasma cells. There is thickening of the capsular structures, villous formation of the synovium and a cell-rich effusion into the joints and tendon sheaths. Although painful, swollen and tender, these structures are still intact and mobile, and the disorder is potentially reversible.
Acute non traumatic haemoarthrosis
Haemophilia
X-linked recessive disorder
Coagulation factor deficiency lead to spontaneous bleeding into joint
Irritation of synovium , effusion
Special tests in trauma
Collateral ligament tears
Tenderness over it
Positive stress test
Cruciate ligament injury
Positive drawer test
Meniscal tears
Joint line tenderness
Painful hyperextension
Apley’s grinding test
X-ray knee AP/Lat
Soft tissue swelling
Avulsed bone fragments: suggest ligament injury
Intra articular fracture, etc.
Sun burst appearance – osteosarcoma
Sequestrum – C.O.M
Periarticular osteoporosis – RA
Sky line view – patella fracture
Tunnel view – intra articular loose bodies
EUA: stress views – if in doubt of ligament injury
Arthroscopy – meniscal tears, intra articular fractures
CT Scan – intra articular fractures
MRI – cruciate ligament, meniscal tear
- extent of involvement in tumour
- The erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) is usually increased in acute and chronic inflammatory disorders
and after tissue injury
-Rheumatoid factor, an IgM autoantibody, is present in about 75% of adults with rheumatoid arthritis. However, it is not pathognomonic: some patients with undoubted rheumatoid arthritis remain ‘seronegative’, while rheumatoid factor is found in some patients with other disorders such as systemic lupus erythematosus and scleroderma.
A white cell count and Gram stain should be carried out immediately: the normal synovial fluid leucocyte count is under 300 per mL; it may be over 10 000 per mL in non-infective inflammatory disorders,but counts of over 50 000 per mL are highly suggestive of sepsis.
CT Scan – intra articular fractures
MRI – cruciate ligament, meniscal tear
- extent of involvement in tumour
CXR – TB, metastasis
Sarimo et al, Routine arthroscopy on patient with acute post traumatic haemarthrosis they found that; 45% ACL injury, 23% patella dislocation, 21% have meniscal tear.
Immediate therapeutic procedure was only feasible in 35% of cases, hence discourage routine arthroscopy immediately following traumatic heamarthrosis of knee.