Chin-En Chen a, b, Rei-Jahn Juhn a
aDepartment of Orthopedic Surgery, Golden Hospital, Pingtung, Taiwan
bDepartment of Nursing, Tajen University, Pingtung, Taiwan
Abstract
Tuberculosis of the ankle is an uncommon presentation of extrapulmo-nary infection. The early diagnosis of tuberculous arthritis of the ankle is difficult because of the uncommon site, the ability of tuberculosis to mimic other disorders and, all too common, lack of awareness of this infection by the physician. Here, we report the case of a 14-year-old boy with an unusual presentation of tuberculous arthritis involving the ankle joint. The patient, despite a period of conservative treatment, presented with a localized painful swelling of the ankle associated with recurrent ankle sprain. Tuberculous arthritis was diagnosed through a surgical procedure, and antituberculous therapy eventually eradicated the infection. It is highly recommended that early open biopsy and synovial fluid culture be performed in suspicious cases because early diagnosis is the key to successful treatment.
Keywords
Pyogenic arthritis; Recurrent ankle sprain; Tuberculous arthritis
