Extrapulmonary manifestations of tuberculosis are reported in less than one in five cases with the knee affected in 8% after the spine and hip. We report a case of isolated highly erosive tuberculosis of the knee presenting in a previously fit Vietnamese woman. The difficulties of diagnosis, modalities of chemotherapeutic management, and surgical treatment are discussed.

We describe three cases of fracture of the titanium JRI-Furlong hydroxyapatite-ceramic (HAC)-coated femoral component. We have examined previous case reports of failure of this stem and conclude that fracture may occur in two places, namely at the neck-shoulder junction and at the conical-distal cylindrical junction. These breakages are the result of fatigue in a metallurgically-proven normal femoral component. All the cases of failure of the femoral component have occurred in patients with a body mass index of more than 25 in whom a small component, either size 9 or 10, had been used. In patients with a body mass index above normal size 9 components should be avoided and the femoral canal should be reamed sufficiently to accept a large femoral component to ensure that there is adequate metaphyseal fixation.

The use of biodegradable Transfix femoral fixation technique is a safe and well-accepted method when performing anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. We report on three cases of deformation and back out of the Bio-Transfix implant over the lateral, distal femoral cortex, with failure of the passing wire when advancing the graft into the femoral tunnel in one of these patients. Two of the patients presented with symptoms of iliotibial band friction syndrome, while the third patient was asymptomatic. The graft had clinically integrated demonstrating AP and rotational stability. The symptoms relieved after removal of the failed Bio-Transfix implants in the symptomatic patients. The aetiology of the implant failure and the alternative methods to avoid such complications are discussed.

A 66-year-old man presented with an infected resurfacing hip replacement in the immediate post-operative period following an uneventful transurethral resection of the prostate. Prophylactic antibiotics had been administered on induction of anaesthesia. The hip prosthesis had been inserted seven years previously and had been hitherto asymptomatic. The hip was washed out and microbiological examination identified Enterococcus faecalis as the infecting micro-organism. Despite current recommendations, clinicians undertaking invasive procedures which can lead to bacteraemia in patients with prosthetic joint replacements should be aware of the risk of haematogenous seeding in such prostheses, which although low, has potentially disastrous consequences.

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