General information, not an individual diagnosis. Ask a healthcare professional if you are unsure about your situation.
After a serious knee injury, or if you can neither put your foot down nor walk, call 15 or 112 without delay in France. Do not postpone assessment while preparing for an aspiration.
Seek medical care the same day for very severe pain, knee pain with fever, a very swollen, red and hot knee, or a swollen knee while taking an anticoagulant or with a bleeding disorder.
Joint aspiration means taking fluid from the knee under strict hygiene conditions. The doctor selects this examination according to the clinical assessment; not every painful knee automatically needs aspiration.
The laboratory can examine the fluid’s appearance and look for crystals or germs. In gout, finding urate crystals can confirm the diagnosis; interpretation depends on the overall assessment.
If the doctor suspects a knee joint infection, aspiration is performed urgently in hospital because antibiotic treatment must start without delay. Do not assume that a red, swollen knee is necessarily a gout attack.
Before sampling, report fever, infection, allergies and blood-thinning medicines, including anticoagulants and antiplatelet drugs. Do not change treatment on your own; ask how results will be communicated and which instructions to follow.
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