Medicalpediaalmost 4 years ago

Knee injury

This is a semi-traumatic case, in the sense it’s considered a trauma, however, the etiology of the injury isn’t what we would immediately think traumatic! This knee wound did not happen from a MVA or a knife slip, but from a fall! This happened 3 weeks post op after the patient received a TKA (total knee arthroplasty), aka knee replacement! The fall happened just from standing height which resulted in an apparent dehiscence (rupture along surgical line) of the wound, which completely revealed the hardware. Neurovasculature intact in the area, as well as, down the leg, foot pulses were prominently felt. The unfortunate issue that arse from this fall was the patient was unable to extend the knee past the point viewed in the image which means damage to their new, artificial knee has been done. The patient will have to be taken up to the OR for fixture of the knee, and there, the team can determine the amount of damage that actually has been done. Credit: @trauma_time.