Tuberculous Arthritis of Knee Presenting as Bakers Cyst: A Case Report

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) is no longer confined to undeveloped or developing nations. Today, one third of world's population suffers from tuberculosis. Tuberculosis (TB) of the musculoskeletal system is an uncommon infection caused by tuberculous bacilli and constitutes 1%-5% of all forms of TB. 30% of skeletal TB involves the joints, the knee being the third most commonly affected after the spine and the hip. Knee tuberculosis commonly presents as synovitis or arthritis. Baker's cyst is a rather rare complication of knee joint tuberculosis. We report a case of a 50-year-old man with tuberculous arthritis of the right knee who presented to us as baker's cyst.

Disseminated Tuberculosis Presenting as Baker’s Cyst Infection

“…Cold abscesses, sinuses, and constitutional symptoms are also common features. Baker's cyst is a rather rare complication of knee joint tuberculosis [4]. In fact only few cases of tubercular arthritis involving the Baker's cyst are described in literature till date [4, 14, 15].…”

“…30% of skeletal TB involves the joints, the knee being the third most commonly affected site [2]. Bakers cyst infection with mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) is relatively rare and only a few cases have been described in the English literature [3, 4]. …”

Case Report: Tuberculous abscess of the popliteal fossa: A case report

“… 3 In the knee, tuberculosis typically presents as joint involvement: synovitis, arthritis, or an infected Baker’s cyst, and rarely as extra-articular involvement. 4 , 5…”

“…3 In the knee, tuberculosis typically presents as joint involvement: synovitis, arthritis, or an infected Baker's cyst, and rarely as extraarticular involvement. 4,5 Currently, antitubercular antibiotics are the standard treatment. Moreover, surgical treatment is limited to cases resistant to medical treatment.…”

“…Moreover, surgical treatment is limited to cases resistant to medical treatment. 4 Case report This is a 17-year-old male, Tunisian high school student, from central-western Tunisia (Sbeïtla, Kasserine) with no notable medical history but with a history of exposure to tuberculosis seven years ago (his brother had pulmonary tuberculosis) and a history of regular consumption of unpasteurized milk. The patient presented with a painful, red, hot swelling in the right popliteal fossa that was resistant to first-line medical treatment with analgesics.…”