Advertisement for orthosearch.org.uk
Results 1 - 1 of 1
Results per page:
The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery British Volume
Vol. 89-B, Issue 5 | Pages 664 - 666
1 May 2007
Opara TN Gupte CM Liyanage SH Poole S Beverly MC

We describe a case of septic arthritis of the knee in which the diagnosis of tuberculosis was masked by an initial culture growth of Staphylococcus aureus. This led to a delay in diagnosis and an adverse outcome. In the appropriate clinical setting, we suggest that the index of suspicion for skeletal tuberculosis be raised in developed countries in order to avoid diagnostic delay, by requesting cultures for acid-fast bacilli and synovial biopsies at arthroscopy. Moreover, antituberculosis therapy should be started whilst awaiting the results of culture if the clinical history and biopsies are strongly suggestive of the diagnosis.