What Causes Painful Swollen Left Knee?

Posted on Wed, 11 Jun 2014

Question: Left knee is swollen and achy. It has come on gradually with no injury, unless I've bumped it and just didn't pay attention at the time. I can walk without pain, although the knee area feels tight from the swelling. No redness or warmth, but the area is tender to the touch. There is an area that feels quite mushy. The swelling is minimal in the morning and increases through the day. I did have an injury when I was 18 that eventually healed without complication, and at 61, it's difficult to make any connection to that. I am healthy and active. As a side note, there has been talk off and on over the last 30 years that I may have an un-diagnosed auto-immune issue, but after multitudes of tests and no diagnosis, I've dismissed that idea. Any thoughts?

Answered by Dr. Vaibhav Gandhi (4 hours later)

Brief Answer:
knee presentation looks like atypical joint involv

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

I have studied your case with diligence.

This knee presentation looks like atypical joint involvement.
There are various possibilities like

It can be mono-articular rheumatoid arthritis involving your knee.

When such patients come to our hospital I advise them blood test like RA factor, ACCP, ESR, complete blood count, HLA B27.

Rheumatoid arthritis may involve large joints.If your test are normal then.
Another possibility of discoid meniscus with age related osteoarthritis due to old injury
Or it can be synovial involvement-arthroscopic evaluation and biopsy after MRI may help in diagnosis.

Till time do physiotherapy with USG and TENS.

Hope this answers your query. If you have additional questions or follow up queries then please do not hesitate in writing to us. I will be happy to answer your queries.

Wishing you good health.

Take care.

Note: For further queries, consult a joint and bone specialist, an Orthopaedic surgeon. Book a Call now.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar