Colitis Leading to Reactive Arthritis: A Rare Complication Associated With a Common Disease
The relationship between reactive arthritis and enteric infections caused by Yersinia enterocolitica, Campylobacter jejuni , and Salmonella typhimurium is well documented. Clostridium difficile colitis is a less recognized cause of reactive arthritis. We present a case of a 58-year-old woman with Cl...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Book |
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SAGE Publishing,
2018-03-01T00:00:00Z.
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| Summary: | The relationship between reactive arthritis and enteric infections caused by Yersinia enterocolitica, Campylobacter jejuni , and Salmonella typhimurium is well documented. Clostridium difficile colitis is a less recognized cause of reactive arthritis. We present a case of a 58-year-old woman with Clostridium difficile colitis complicated by reactive arthritis. A 58-year-old woman with no significant past medical history presented to our hospital with complaints of nonbloody watery diarrhea, abdominal pain for the past 1 week, and right knee pain starting 1 day prior. The patient had recently used antibiotics for a respiratory tract infection. On examination, the patient had a swollen and erythematous right knee. While in the hospital the patient also developed a similarly painful and swollen left knee. The patient was found to be positive for C difficile toxin in stool. Synovial fluid analysis of both the knee joints revealed a sterile and inflammatory fluid, negative for crystals and showing no growth on gram stain. We diagnosed the patient with reactive arthritis secondary to C difficile colitis once all other causes of the bilateral knee joint symptoms were ruled out with appropriate laboratory and imaging studies. Treatment with oral vancomycin and an anti-inflammatory was initiated, and the patient had complete resolution of symptoms. This case illustrates the importance of recognizing C difficile colitis as a potential differential for reactive arthritis under the appropriate circumstances. The treatment of reactive arthritis is mainly supportive and treating the underlying cause, which happens to be C difficile in this case. |
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| Item Description: | 2324-7096 10.1177/2324709618767689 |