Clinical Case of a Foreign Body in the Soft Tissues surrounding the Knee Joint: to Help the Practitione

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: The existence of foreign bodies in a human organism often creates difficulties in differential diagnosis and diagnosis verification. A clinical case of a 45-year-old female patient is presented. On examination, the patient complained of pain in the knee joints, restricted range of active movements, more on the left. Pain syndrome in the joints has been present for several years intensifying on exertion; a week before the current consultation, the patient fell down from her height on the left knee and felt a sharp enhancement of pain in it. X-ray of the left knee joint showed a fragmented foreign body in the surrounding soft tissues. The patient denied a history of trauma with a foreign body getting into the wound; she cannot give the data and mechanism of appearance of a foreign body in the soft tissues. CONCLUSION: The peculiarities of the given clinical case include the absence of data on the fact of entry of a foreign body, its prolonged presence in the soft tissues without significant clinical symptoms. A relative rarity of a foreign body in soft tissues, however, does not exclude it being a cause of pain syndrome, the primary care physicians should have diagnostic alertness. A thorough history taking and instrumental examinations are required to exclude, among other things, the presence of an X-ray negative foreign body. Not a single method of examination can be considered ideal for diagnosis of all types of foreign bodies.