Feeling pain and stiffness, man went to the doctor and was surprised to discover 50 stones in his elbow.

For the past 3 years, patient VTN (59 years old) has been living with a state of creaking noises when moving his right elbow, pain and increasingly limited flexion and extension. Noticing signs of stiffness in his elbow, Mr. N. came to the hospital for a check-up.

According to the MRI results, Dr. Le Quang Huy (Head of Orthopedic Trauma Unit - Hong Ngoc General Hospital) said: "There are many small foreign objects like pebbles about 0.5 - 2cm in diameter filling the elbow joint with stiffness in the elbow joint at 30 degrees of flexion, determining that the patient has synovial chondromatosis.

This is a rare benign bone tumor - the rate is 1/100,000 cases, appearing due to the formation of multiple intra-articular masses accompanied by synovial cartilage metaplasia (abnormal development of cartilage structures in the synovial membrane). When moving, the cartilage particles rub against the elbow joints, causing pain and gradually reducing the ability to flex and extend... Therefore, to restore movement, the most optimal treatment method is to surgically remove the entire cartilage tumor and release the elbow joint.

50 pieces of cartilage were completely removed from the patient's elbow joint.

After consulting with the doctor, the patient decided to undergo surgery. The surgery lasted more than an hour, and all 50 pieces of cartilage were removed from the patient's elbow.

One day after surgery, the patient was fully awake, no longer felt pain and could start moving gently. After 5 days of treatment in the hospital, the patient's elbow joint mobility had improved significantly: flexion 130 degrees and extension -10 degrees, completely qualified for discharge.

According to doctors, synovial chondroma is common in people with a history of joint diseases such as osteoarthritis, tuberculosis arthritis, intra-articular fractures, joint trauma, etc. However, in many cases, this disease appears without a specific cause.

Therefore, Dr. Huy also warned that when unusual symptoms such as pain, swelling, heat or lumps in the joint area appear, causing limited movement, patients should not be subjective but should go to reputable medical facilities for examination, diagnosis and timely treatment to avoid unfortunate complications.

After consulting with the doctor, the patient decided to undergo surgery for the synovial chondroma. The surgery lasted more than 1 hour, under the coordination of the doctors of the Orthopedic Trauma Unit - Hong Ngoc General Hospital, all 50 cartilage balls were completely removed from the patient's elbow, preserving the structure and function of the joint.

One day after surgery, the patient was fully awake, no longer felt pain and could start moving gently. After 5 days of treatment in the hospital, the patient's elbow joint mobility improved significantly, flexing 130 degrees and extending -10 degrees, completely qualified for discharge.

Synovial chondroma is common in people with a history of joint diseases such as osteoarthritis, tuberculosis arthritis, intra-articular fractures, and joint trauma.

However, many cases of this disease appear without a specific cause. Therefore, Dr. Huy also warns that when unusual symptoms such as pain, swelling, heat or lumps in the joint area appear, causing limited movement, patients should not be subjective but should go to reputable medical facilities for examination, diagnosis and timely treatment to avoid unfortunate complications.

Source: https://giadinh.suckhoedoisong.vn/thay-lao-xao-va-dau-nhuc-nguoi-dan-ong-di-kham-bat-ngo-phat-hien-50-vien-soi-trong-khuyu-tay-172240612150334063.htm