First Presentation of Acute Pseudogout Following Total Knee Replacement

Infection of a total knee replacement (TKR) is a very serious complication of knee arthroplasty surgery as the repercussions for the patient often include long-term antibiotics, further surgery, revision surgery, and worse outcomes in the long-term including increased morbidity and mortality. As such, the careful assessment of a patient presenting with an acutely inflamed TKR is of paramount importance.

We report a case of a patient presenting with the clinical signs and symptoms of an acute infection of their TKR. The patient was ultimately diagnosed as having pseudogout.

This case illustrates that crystal arthropathy must be one of the differential diagnoses for a suspected infection of a TKR, as failure to recognize this may result in unnecessary and detrimental treatment.