Neuroma of the infrapatellar branch of the saphenous nerve a cause of reversible knee stiffness after total knee arthroplasty.

Abstract

Injury of the infrapatellar branch of the saphenous nerve (ISN) may be caused by a surgical laceration or trauma about the knee and can result in formation of a painful neuroma. There has been no report of knee stiffness after a total knee arthroplasty secondary to a painful neuroma of the ISN. In this report, we present a patient with pain and severe stiffness of her knee after a total knee arthroplasty. A neuroma of the ISN was resected, and the pain as well as the stiffness of the knee resolved. A source of pain such as a neuroma should be considered as a cause of reversible knee stiffness or "pseudoarthrofibrosis" after a total knee arthroplasty.