Lead intoxication and knee osteoarthritis after a gunshot: long-term follow-up case report

This case is of a man who suffered gunshots and developed saturnism. Projectiles were removed from the abdomen, but one was left in the knee for 14 years. The patient presented with weight loss, headaches, loss of sight, tiredness, cramps, painful joints and trembling. We identified ataxic movements such as intense trembling of the limbs and anaemia. The abdominal pain caused eight internments in different hospitals, and the patient always received the diagnosis of intestinal subocclusion. We removed the bullet and did a wide synovectomy. The patient did not receive a clinical treatment with chelates. The symptoms of lead poisoning ceased, but he developed knee osteoarthritis, during the 7 years of follow-up.