Examiner: Please summarize your case. "Mrs Janice Green is a 54-year-old woman with 4 months of chronic lower back pain, dull and aching, sometimes shooting down both legs to her feet, increasing in intensity, keeping her awake at night, worsening. She denies numbness, weakness, or bladder/bowel problems. She has hypertension, is unemployed, and she primary carer for her disabled husband, reporting significant stress and functional limitation. She has had a previous MRI, and no other systemic symptoms. This is most likely mechanical back pain, but red flags include night pain and possible weight loss, so further evaluation and broad support are appropriate." Examiner: How would you manage this patient? I would inform my seniors, perform a clinical examination, and order some investigations including: Full blood count: Looking for anemia which may indicate malignancy, leukocytosis which may indicate infection or inflammatory causes. Serology: Which may indicate an autoimmune process such as rheumatoid arthritis. Plasma electrophoresis: For possibility of multiple myeloma. Liver function tests: For possibility of metastatic disease or as part of an extraintestinal manifestation of inflammatory bowel disease. Plasma amino-lipase: May be considered if pancreatitis is suspected. Urea and electrolytes: May be ordered especially if the suspected diagnosis is multiple myeloma, which is associated with renal failure. Radiological investigation may include: X ray of the spine: Looking for bony abnormalities. MRI of the spine: Looking for disc pathology, spinal cord/cauda equina compression, or to determine diagnosis such as facet joint arthropathy. Abdominal ultrasound scan: if an abdominal aortic aneurysm is suspected. CT scan of the abdomen: may be considered if a diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis is suspected. Treatment will be tailored to the underlying cause, in this case the likely cause is primary or secondary spine malignancy, it needs to be discussed in a MDT meeting, if disseminated malignancy it will likely include radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and pain management, if her pain is complex pain management teams may be included. Note: When formulating a management plan, inform the patient, it is not mandatory that you get the right diagnosis, just give a reasonable set of investigations that will help you reach the diagnosis, and treatment plan for the most likely diagnosis in a brief manner. Note: When formulating a management plan, always remember that you are NOT ALONE, always involve other parts of the team, for example, pain management team, radiologist, pharmacist... etc. according to the case you are dealing with.

Discussion Examiner: Summarize your case and give a differential "Mr. David Johnson is a 50-year-old former football player with a background history of Diabetes mellitus on Metformin, who presents with 4 months of right knee pain. The pain is gradual in onset, dull and aching, worsens with activity and at the end of the day, and improves with rest. He reports morning stiffness of about 10 minutes. He had a knee injury and surgery 30 years ago, details of which are unclear. There are no associated swelling, redness, systemic symptoms, or other joint involvement." The most likely diagnosis is post-traumatic osteoarthritis on the account of his past knee injury, his pain also being in keeping with the differentiating and exacerbating include: Chronic meniscal tear. Inflammatory arthritis such as ankylosing spondylitis or rheumatoid arthritis. Primary or secondary bone malignancy. Osteonecrosis of the knee. Crystal arthropathy including gout and pseudogout. Septic arthritis, which is unlikely. Give your main diagnosis, and then list the others, try to make a list from the most likely to the less likely. Examiner: What is your management plan? I would first examine the patient, and inform my seniors to get their advice, this will allow me to order a more focused set of investigations, but investigations needed may include: Biochemical investigations: FBC: Looking for anemia, which is seen with malignancy, chronic disease, and inflammatory bowel disease, leukocytosis, which is seen with infective or inflammatory pathologies. CRP and ESR: As inflammatory markers. Serology: looking for autoimmune process is suspected such as rheumatoid arthritis. Imaging: X-ray of the knee in two views looking for signs of osteoarthritis. MRI scan of the knee which can better characterize osteoarthritis, detect early changes, and detect meniscal or ligamentous injuries. Examiner: How would you treat this case? After discussion with my seniors, treatment will be tailored to the underlying diagnosis, in this case osteoarthritis is most likely, treatment options can include: Conservative treatment: Achieve healthy weight and maintain exercise, this will reduce mechanical stress on the joint. Physiotherapy, focusing on strengthening the muscles around the knee. Analgesia, this may include paracetamol or NSAID's. Intra-articular steroid injections. Surgical management: Total or partial arthroplasty. Arthroscopy, in conclusion if there are loose bodies or meniscal tears, but it does not affect the progression of osteoarthritis. Realignment osteotomies, which are designed to redistribute weight away from the affected knee compartment, it can delay the need for arthoplasty. Examiner: If total knee replacement is carried out, what are the causes failure of total knee replacement? Aseptic loosening of the implant. Wear and tear in the joint. Early or late prosthetic joint infection. Periprosthetic fractures. Examiner: What do you mean by aseptic loosening? Aseptic loosening refers to the separation of the implant from the bone due to chronic inflammatory reaction, it does not involve bacterial infection, rather the debris from the wearing of implant components triggers an inflammatory reaction in the surrounding bone, leading to osteolysis, bone loss and implant loosening over time, it is a long term complication. Examiner: Will this patient be able to play soccer in 9 months after a total knee replacement, and why? Unlikely to be able to play soccer in 9 months, it is generally not recommended because this can damage the prosthesis and cause early loosening of the implant. Examiner: What X ray findings are consistent with osteoarthritis? Joint Space Narrowing (JSN)