Abstract
Little is known about the etiology of postarthroscopic osteonecrosis of the knee.
Its prevalence is probably very low. The most important differential diagnosis is
pre-existing and undiagnosed early-stage spontaneous osteonecrosis of the knee. From
the medicolegal point of view, orthopaedic surgeons need to be aware of the diagnostic
pitfalls in differentiating between postarthroscopic osteonecrosis of the knee and
spontaneous osteonecrosis of the knee, and they must understand that both may be unpreventable
conditions. The purpose of this report is to review the presumable pathophysiology
and the clinical and radiographic features as well as the pitfalls in diagnosing postarthroscopic
osteonecrosis of the knee.
Key Words
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Article info
Footnotes
The authors report no conflict of interest.
Note: To access the supplementary tables accompanying this article, visit the April issue of Arthroscopy at www.arthroscopyjournal.org
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Copyright
© 2007 Arthroscopy Association of North America. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
