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Gout and septic arthritis of the knee
Bones, Joints & Muscles | Last Active: 1 day ago | Replies (6)Comment receiving replies
8 months ago I had an active GI bleed and had a colonoscopy and upper endoscopy performed in a local high level hospital. After waking up from anesthesia, I couldn't bend my knee and it hurt very much. They tested and treated me for gout with alpurinol and cicclichine for 3 or 4 days with no improvement, I got worse. They drained the fluid from my knee and cultured it and it was a staff infection that got into my blood and caused septic arthritis. They told me I picked up the bacteria on my skin and it got into my blood. I have a weak immune system due to other health conditions, and was told it is very common and very easy to get a staff infection in a hospital. They debriged my knee twice within a week, and here I am 8 months later still in alot of pain, still some swelling and very limited mobility with alot of cracking noises in my knee. X rays revealed severe degenerative changes in the areas where the knee and the shin and thigh connect and osteoarthritis. I have been told that a knee replacement is completely out of the question due to my high risk for infection. They are discussing cortisone injectons or nerve blocks, but I'm terrified of infection, so I don't know what to do. My quality of life is definitely not what it was and I feel permanently disabled from it all.
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I’m so sorry to hear what you’ve gone through. Our stories are a little similar in terms of an infection in the knee joint and septic arthritis. Of all things, mine was a strep infection, and they speculated that it was introduced into my body from the cortisone injection, the needle, and perhaps the skin not being cleaned thoroughly by the physician’s assistant. I also had debridement of the knee joint. I also have been told that I can never have a knee replacement due to the risk of infection. I can have one on my right knee if I so desire, but I’m like you, I don’t relish the thought of surgery or needles after my experience.
Not that it’s any consolation, but I was told that the pain I was in was equivalent to having a knee joint replacement without an actual replacement.
My pain is back to what it was before I had the cortisone injections. I’ve thought about trying some of these non-invasive treatment recommendations. My friend told me about something called cold laser therapy, which is not invasive to the body. I read yesterday that a knee brace was found to be the most helpful non-surgical remedy for people with osteoarthritic knees. If your knees are still swollen, that could be difficult. I have two braces that were prescribed, but the best brace I found came off of Amazon for about $25.
So this is what my experience has been. I hope that you can get some relief somehow.