Charcot arthropathy of the knee after unsuccessful spinal stenosis surgery: A case report.
Int J Surg Case Rep 2017;
36:22-25. [PMID:
28511074 PMCID:
PMC5440761 DOI:
10.1016/j.ijscr.2017.04.023]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2017] [Revised: 04/25/2017] [Accepted: 04/30/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
We report here a case of a 62 years old patient with charcot arthropathy at her left knee developed one year after spinal stenosis surgery.
The patient’s knee joint was already beyond the fragmentation and coalescence stages at the moment of physical examination.
Unsuccessful spinal surgery affected polyneuropathy and migrated the level of the sensorineural loss proximally.
Elevated level of sensorineural loss resulted in Charcot knee joint in a short period of time.
Introduction
Charcot arthropathy was first described in 1868 by Jean Martin Charcot as a progressive and destructive joint disease. Diabetes, polyneuropathy, syphilis, syrengomyelia and chronic alcoholism are the main causes of the disease. In this study we present a Charcot arthropathy of the knee seen after unsuccessful spinal stenosis surgery.
Presentation of case
We report here a case of 62 years old patient with Charcot arthropathy at her left knee developed one year after spinal stenosis surgery. The patient’s knee joint was already beyond the fragmentation and coalescence stages at the moment of physical examination. Patient had already been treated for Charcot foot four years before spinal surgery. Because of an unsuccessful spinal surgery, proximal migration of the level of the sensorineural loss negatively affected the polyneuropathy and eventually resulted in Charcot knee joint in a short period of time.
Discussion
However, the etiology of the neuropathic arthropathy hasn’t been well described yet, it is usually seen at patients with diabetes mellitus as a long-term complication with or without polyneuropathy. In addition to the spinal canal pathologies, it is reported that Charcot arthropathy can be seen even after spinal anesthesia procedures.
Conclusion
In conclusion, spinal procedures should be applied with extra caution on the patients with polyneuropathy or any neuropathic arthropathy. It should be remembered that it is possible to encounter unexpected complications such as proximally migration of the level of sensorineural loss and progression of the actual disease after spinal procedures of these patients.
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