. Mr. Fergus Paterson is a consultant orthopaedic surgeon with a special interest in disorders of the knee joint Profile & CV Why Mister, not Doctor? Private Consulting Rooms _____ The Bupa Cromwell Hospital Cromwell Road London SW5 0TU (Map) Secretary email: drfawzia@pamrpaterson .wanadoo.co.uk Tel: +44 (0)20 7460 2000 Sec: +44 (0)7765 833 567 App: +44 (0)20 7460 5700 Fax: +44 (0)20 7460 5709 _____ The Lister Hospital Chelsea Bridge Road London SW1W 8RH (Map) Secretary email: drfawzia@pamrpaterson .wanadoo.co.uk App: + 44 (0)20 7730 8298 Fax: + 44 (0)20 7259 9218 ______ © Fergus Paterson 2003/4/5
Examples of Knee Problems A Common Cause Medium Power Microscope Osteomyelitis Gram Stain showing Pyogenic Arthritis .	Infection in a bone close to the knee (osteomyelitis) or within the knee joint itself (pyogenic arthritis) is seen much less often nowadays than say fifty years ago, the improvement being due to the availability of antibiotics and better living conditions. Infection can reach a bone or joint following common childhood infections such as sore throat or tonsilitis or even an infected skin wound. The classic symptoms of infection in a bone or joint are intense unrelenting pain coupled with a high temperature in a child who screams every time the knee is moved. Such a scenario should alert parents to the possibility of infection and prompt them to seek urgent medical advice. Blood tests will show a high white cell count but in the early stages of infection X-rays may well be normal. Treatment with intravenous antibiotics is usually curative, but if left too long an abscess may develop and require surgical drainage. Knee pain in children can sometimes be due to problems in the hip joint (referred pain). This possibility should always be borne in mind if there are no local signs to be discovered on examining the knee itself. An X-ray of the pelvis should be carried out in appropriate cases.
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