Background: Septic arthritis (SA) of native joints has an incidence rate of 4-12 per 100,000 person-years. In 2012, there were 36, 539 hospitalizations for SA in US non-VA hospitals and costed the US healthcare system $2.85 billion. Such data has not been reported for US VA-healthcare System. SA has a mortality of 4-13%. Among survivors [...]

Case Presentation: A 68-year-old male with osteoarthritis, status post bilateral knee replacement in 2014, presented with two weeks of flu-like symptoms, generalized weakness, and shortness of breath. Upon admission, the patient was noted to have a tender, swollen right knee with laboratories revealing neutrophilia with bandemia. Computed tomography (CT) of the joint revealed punctate gas [...]

Case Presentation: An 80-year-old man presented with progressive worsening of altered mental status after a fall and right knee trauma. Four days prior he developed subjective fevers, chills and inability to walk after the fall. Past medical history was significant for diverticulitis complicated by diverticular abscess six months prior to admission. He was homebound, no [...]

Case Presentation: A previously healthy 77 year-old woman with a history of porcine mitral valve repair (MVR) presented with left knee pain.  Three weeks prior to admission she experienced general malaise and intermittent chills. She then fell resulting in left knee pain and presented three days later due to inability to walk. On examination, she [...]

Case Presentation: Salmonella is a Gram-negative rod with multiple serotypes. This bacterium is part of resident flora of poultry, which the most common source of Salmonella. Consumption of under cooked chicken is a risk factor for Salmonella infection, which can cause invasive gastroenteritis. In less than 5% of Salmonella infections, bacteremia occurs, and more seldom [...]

Case Presentation: A 3-year-old immunized male, with a history of atopic dermatitis and anaphylactic dairy allergy, was brought to the ER due to refusal to bear weight for one month. There was no trauma, fevers, or recent sick symptoms. He had a severely restricted diet of potato products and breast milk. On exam, he was [...]

Case Presentation: A 66 yo man with a past medical history of CAD, b/l knee osteoarthritis, CKD, CVA, T2DM, HTN, and HLD presented to the ED complaining of back pain and left knee pain. In the ED, patient was responsive and fully alert. Labs were significant for hyperkalemia of 6.0, anemia of 9.1. He was [...]

Case Presentation: A 71-year-old female with metastatic thyroid cancer status-post (s/p) radioiodine ablation and total thyroidectomy on oral chemotherapy, chronic kidney disease stage IV s/p deceased donor kidney transplant in 2019 on oral immunosuppression, presented with weakness, gastrointestinal symptoms, and acute-on-chronic dysphagia. While dysphagia work-up was ongoing, patient was noted to have right wrist swelling, [...]

Case Presentation: A 31-year-old man presented to the ED with 2 days of fever and odynophagia, without neck pain. The physical exam was notable only for post-pharyngeal erythema without cervical lymphadenopathy. Blood cultures were drawn. The patient was discharged after reporting feeling better with a presumptive diagnosis of a viral infection. 5 days after the [...]

Case Presentation: Here is a case report that describes an immunized immunocompetent 17-year-old male who presented with acute onset sharp migratory poly-articular pain and swelling as a solitary complaint that began in the left hip and right wrist associated with night sweats and difficult ambulation. Fever and other systemic symptoms were absent. Upon initial work-up, [...]