A large metallic cyst caused by wear particles after total knee arthroplasty.

Authors :: Niimi R
Hasegawa M
Sudo A
Uchida A
Source :: Archives of orthopaedic and trauma surgery [Arch Orthop Trauma Surg] 2007 Jan; Vol. 127 (1), pp. 51-4. Date of Electronic Publication: 2006 Aug 23.
Publication Year :: 2007
Abstract: Introduction: A symptomatic cyst is an uncommon complication after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). We present a case of a 77-year-old woman with a large cyst in the right knee caused by metal wear debris from the failure of a Miller-Galante I TKA performed 13 years earlier.<br />Case Presentation: The patient was treated with a two-stage operation including revision of the TKA followed by excision of the cyst, because there was a direct communication between the joint cavity and the cyst, and because the patient reported pain corresponding to the cystic area after revision. The patient was pain-free and had a satisfactory result 17 months after the second operation, without recurrence of cyst formation.<br />Conclusion: We recommend two-stage surgery in which the first-stage is correction of the intra-articular pathology with revision TKA and the second-stage is excision of the cyst.