Diagnosis and Management of Acute Joint Pain in the Emergency Department
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Interview with author: Rachel Sullivan, MD
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- Why joint pain ?
- Differential DiagnosisÂ
- Mono vs Poly Articular Presentation? Figure 1
- Infectious, degenerative, autoimmune, crystal deposition, reactive, traumatic
- Septic Arthritis-
- Bimodal incidenceÂ
- Risks
- Septic arthritis is polyarticular in 15% to 20% of cases, and in these cases, the mortality is high
- GonococcalÂ
- Highest risk
- Commonly affected joints
- Symptomatic or asymptomatic infectionÂ
- Lyme Arthritis
- Viral – Zika, chikungunya, human parvovirus B19, hepatitis
- Degenerative osteoarthritisÂ
- Autoimmune
- Gout
- CPPD
- PrehospitalÂ
- ED History – table 2, table 4
- ED examÂ
- Labs – do we need them?Â
- Imaging
- Arthrocentesis – Table 5
- Treatment
- Special Populations
- ProsthesesÂ
- ImmunocompromisedÂ
- HIV
- Clinical Pathway
Last Updated on January 25, 2023