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Summary
The etiology of spontaneous hemarthrosis of the knee in elderly patients with osteoarthritis
is still unknown. This report discusses six cases, one that was managed with conservative
measures and five in which arthroscopic evaluation and treatment were performed. These
patients were elderly individuals whose chief complaint was knee pain and swelling
about the joint, without an obvious history of trauma. Each of the five operative
patients underwent arthroscopic surgery after repeated hemorrhage into the joint that
did not respond to serial aspirations of large amounts of blood and immobilization,
using a knee immobilizer. The roentgenograms of each involved knee demonstrated lateral
compartment osteoarthritis. Arthroscopic examination revealed a degenerative flap
tear of the posterior horn of the lateral meniscus in the five operative cases. These
patients underwent arthroscopic resection of the injured lateral meniscus and did
not experience a recurrence of the hemarthrosis. The origin of the bleeding was most
likely from the peripheral arteries of the posterior horn of the lateral meniscus.
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Article Info
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Copyright
© 1994 Arthroscopy Association of North America. All rights reserved. Published by Elsevier Inc.
