Foreign body in the knee joint—an unusual injury in children

Abstract

Cause of uncertain knee-complaints in children can be foreign bodies which penetrated unnoticed the joint cavity. Here we report an unusual injury of this kind. A glass-foreign body intruded the knee joint in childhood. Complaints occurred for the first time in adult age. The diagnostic and therapeutic measures in such injuries are shown. At removal of the foreign body tetanus immunisation is necessary.

An unusual case of foreign body knee that spontaneously migrated inside and out of the joint: arthroscopic removal

“…Cause of uncertain knee complaints especially in children can be due to foreign bodies which penetrated unnoticed into the joint cavity in the past [8]. The glass injury in our patient happened nearly 7 years before the first episode of pain and locking of the joint.…”

“…In warfare injuries, intraarticular sharpnels, bullets or bullet fragments are frequently reported [3]. These often get overlooked in view of other serious bodily injuries and have been reported to be removed arthroscopically many months later [3, 4, 8]. There are also cases of thorn injuries with intraarticular thorn fragments causing repeated episodes of pain and synovitis [1, 5].…”

A glass foreign body in the knee joint mistaken for ACL avulsion: an unusual case

“…tip of shaver) [7]. A foreign body intruding the knee joint in childhood can go unnoticed and can cause symptoms for the first time in adult age [8]. What made the diagnosis in our patient very difficult was the absence of a clear‐cut history of injury and the confusing radiograph suggestive of an avulsion fracture of the tibial spine.…”