Surgery to remove more than 100 stones from patient's knee joint

(QNO) - After a 1-hour surgery, the medical team at the Family General Hospital ( Da Nang ) removed more than 100 stones from the knee joint of a female patient. Notably, just 5 days after the surgery, the patient's health was stable, she could walk lightly with the support of crutches and was discharged from the hospital.

Doctors at Family General Hospital are performing surgery to remove more than 100 stones from a patient's knee joint. — Doctors at Gia Dinh General Hospital are performing surgery to remove stones from a patient's knee joint.

Ms. PH (30 years old) visited the Orthopedic Unit, Family General Hospital with pain in her left knee and difficulty walking. The results of the examination, ultrasound, and X-ray showed many calcifications in the knee joint.

Doctor Nguyen Ngo Dung said that the calcified nodules existing in the synovial sac of the left knee joint are about 7-10 mm in size and are concentrated in the soft tissue of the popliteal region, measuring 23 x 13 mm. They are synovial chondromas - the main cause of pain and hindered movement of the patient.

“When the endoscope was inserted into the joint for examination, the doctors were surprised to see hundreds of milky white cartilage particles in the patient’s knee joint. Some particles stuck to the synovial membrane, while others fell freely into the joint,” said Dr. Nguyen Ngo Dung.

X-ray image shows patient's knee joint filled with calcifications

According to Ms. PH, when she was 12 years old, she had an injury to her left knee joint. When she went to the doctor, he concluded that she had a soft tissue injury and treated her with oral medication. However, for a long time after the injury, her knee joint had difficulty moving and felt like it was stuck. Sometimes she could not straighten her knee. When the pain became more severe and walking was too difficult, she went to the hospital for examination.

Doctor Nguyen Ngo Dung analyzed that for Ms. H's condition, medication is almost ineffective, the only treatment method is arthroscopic surgery to separate and remove the tumor from the knee joint. After consultation and consideration, the doctors chose arthroscopic surgery to remove the tumor to help the patient recover mobility early, minimizing joint damage.

After one hour of surgery, under the coordination of doctors from the Musculoskeletal Unit and anesthesiologists at Family General Hospital, more than 100 stones of various sizes were removed.

Five days after surgery and rehabilitation exercises, Ms. H's health gradually stabilized and she was able to walk lightly with the support of wooden crutches.

Some stones after being removed from the patient's knee joint

According to Dr. Nguyen Ngo Dung, synovial chondroma of the knee joint is a common disease in people with a history of joint diseases such as osteoarthritis, arthritis, joint trauma... However, there are also cases with unknown causes. If the patient does not receive timely surgery, the increasingly severe condition can lead to osteoarthritis and loss of knee function.

In particular, although this is a benign disease, it needs to be monitored, detected and treated promptly to avoid serious complications in the joints. Therefore, when experiencing joint pain, joint stiffness, limited joint movement, if you feel a lump around the joint, joint stiffness, or swelling, heat, redness and pain in the joint, the patient needs to go to the hospital for examination and early treatment.

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