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Child Has Swelling And Acute Pain In Knee Joint. Suspect To Have Pus Formation. Advise?
Question: My grandson of 4 1/2 age has swelling and acute pain in his right knee joint. First consultation with the doc says he could have pus formation which needs to be confirmed by ultrasound. Further he says If pus is confirmed it needs to be drained out or alternatively controlled by antibiotics. Pl help with your expert advice as well as how pus could have formed? Thanks
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Email: YYYY@YYYY
Hi,
Thanks for consulting us.
Pain & swelling are very important signs of acute "inflammation" ( which is a response or reaction of our body to any injury). You know children play a lot & very often hurt themselves. Many of these injuries are minor & go unnoticed but some may become obvious due to symptoms like pain & swelling.
Whenever there is injury, there is a chance of infection. Germs may enter an injured site from outside if it is an open wound or may travel through blood stream if there is any systemic infection.
Sometimes pus may be totally sterile i.e. germs free. This is just a collection of our white blood cells at the site of injury to fight infection.
Such a collection may resolve on its own or sometimes antibiotics are required to help cure the infection. If the pus is too much, it has to be drained to accelerate healing & to prevent further complications.
I think you should go for the necessary tests as recommended by your doctor & you may take a second opinion from an orthopedic surgeon if any invasive procedure or surgery is suggested.
Hope I have given you the desired response. Please write back if you have any question.
Best Regards.
Thanks for consulting us.
Pain & swelling are very important signs of acute "inflammation" ( which is a response or reaction of our body to any injury). You know children play a lot & very often hurt themselves. Many of these injuries are minor & go unnoticed but some may become obvious due to symptoms like pain & swelling.
Whenever there is injury, there is a chance of infection. Germs may enter an injured site from outside if it is an open wound or may travel through blood stream if there is any systemic infection.
Sometimes pus may be totally sterile i.e. germs free. This is just a collection of our white blood cells at the site of injury to fight infection.
Such a collection may resolve on its own or sometimes antibiotics are required to help cure the infection. If the pus is too much, it has to be drained to accelerate healing & to prevent further complications.
I think you should go for the necessary tests as recommended by your doctor & you may take a second opinion from an orthopedic surgeon if any invasive procedure or surgery is suggested.
Hope I have given you the desired response. Please write back if you have any question.
Best Regards.
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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