Misdiagnosis of Joint pain
Joint pain: Related Misdiagnoses
Rare undiagnosed iron disorder causes various severe conditions: The rare "iron overload" disorder, hemochromatosis,
can cause a variety of symptoms and result in various severe conditions that mimic several
of the big name medical conditions.
However, since it is quite rare (about 1 in 200 to 1 in 300), it may go undiagnosed,
and indeed doctors may not even test for it.
It can damage the pancreas, causing pancreatitis, leading to diabetes-like symptoms.
It can damage the liver, leading to liver symptoms such as jaundice.
Hemochromoatis can also damage the joints, giving the appearance of arthritis.
The heart is another organ that excess iron can damage.
Fortunately, this condition has a relatively simple treatment, and these complications can
often be reversed by treatment of the iron overload causing them.
See introduction to hemochromatosis.
Rare form of juvenile arthritis undiagnosed: The disease rheumatoid arthritis (i.e. juvenile arthritis)
is fairly well known.
But there is a rare form known as Still's disease that can remain an undiagnosed
of arthritis-like symptoms.
See introduction to Still's disease and rheumatoid arthritis.
Leg cramps at night a classic sign: The symptom of having leg muscle cramps,
particularly at night, is a classic sign of undiagnosed diabetes.
However, there are also various other causes.
See causes of leg cramps or misdiagnosis of diabetes.
Psoriatic arthritis often undiagnosed cause of joint conditions: Patients with the skin condition psoriasis
can also have the related arthritis subtype called "psoriatic arthritis".
This arthritic condition tends to be overlooked, even in patients with diagnosed psoriasis.
See misdiagnosis of arthritis or psoriasis.
Vitamin B12 deficiency under-diagnosed: The condition of Vitamin B12 deficiency
is a possible misdiagnosis of various conditions, such as multiple sclerosis (see symptoms of multiple sclerosis).
See symptoms of Vitamin B12 deficiency or misdiagnosis of multiple sclerosis.
Difficult to diagnose Paget's disease: Paget's disease of the bone is a disease of the
older age group and rarely presents itself before the age of 40 years. It is
characterised by skeletal deformity due to defect in bone resorption and
remodelling which is most likely thought to be due to a viral infection. The
condition maybe asymptomatic for a very long time and may take years to
diagnose. Most patients may present with joint pain, arthritis and bony
tenderness. The difficulty in diagnosis occurs when the condition is mistaken
for osteomalacia but this can be ruled out as in osteomalacia the entire
skeleton is involved due to vitamin D deficiency. Difficulty arises when it has
to be differentiated from metastatic bony lesions.
Rash of Dengue can be misdiagnosed: Dengue
fever also known as 'breakbone fever' is a mosquito borne viral infection. The
most common clinical presentation is that of severe headache, eye pain, fever,
joint pain and the maculopapular rubelliform rash which can lead to a chance of
misdiagnosis. There are several conditions from which dengue has to
differentiated some of them being Leptospirosis, measles, malaria, yellow
fever, meningoencephalitis etc. No specific treatment of dengue is
available. Early institution of supportive treatment is the key to management
of patients with dengue of all forms.
Adhesive capsulitis: Adhesive capsulitis
is an acute inflammation affecting the gleno humeral joint which becomes
fibrotic and contracted. It can arise spontaneously or after an injury. It is
usually misdiagnosed as monoarticular rheumatoid arthritis, crystal arthropathy
like gout and septic arthritis. The condition is generally worse in diabetics.
The patient presents pain around the shoulder and outer border of the arm and
radiates to the elbow. It is aggravated on activity. The condition can be
diagnosed on high resolution ultrasound.
More about Misdiagnosis
» Next page: JOINT SWELLING (Algorithmic Diagnosis of Symptoms and Signs)
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