CASE AT A GLANCE
Failed Prosthesis of Total Knee Replacement

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Case Overview:

A few days prior to seeing the defendant, the plaintiff had fallen and sustained injuries to his left elbow and left knee. The plaintiff alleged that defendant failed to timely diagnose and treat his infected left knee joint because the x-rays showed intra-articular gas in an artificial joint which they believed indicated infection. As damages, the plaintiff alleged that defendant failed to comply with the standard of care resulting in sepsis in multiple organs, extensive medical treatment, extensive and repeated hospitalizations over a year and a left above the knee amputation. The defendant’s position was that the infection likely seeded from the bruise on the plaintiff’s left elbow that had been sustained in the fall. Infection likely did not seed from the prosthetic knee. There was nothing notable at the office visit to indicate early development of an infection of the left elbow or left knee. The defendant and defense experts explained that a foci of intra-articular gas can be explained by factors other than infection, such as trauma to an already failed prosthesis. The patient was given instructions to call the office or return to the ER if any changes in his condition, which he did not do until days later, when he was in septic shock. The jury found in favor of the defense.