Following a knee replacement surgery, a nurse's next door neighbor asks, "I don't think I am healing right. Can you come look at my knee?"

Question

Upon assessment, the nurse notices the client is warm to touch and has a fever; the incision is inflamed and not well approximated with foul-smelling drainage around the incision line. At this point, the nurse tells the client she needs to go see her surgeon because the client may have:
A) Contaminated the wound with MRSA
B) Osteomyelitis
C) An abscess in the pocket of the incision
D) Potential bone cancer

Answer 1

Ans: B
Feedback:
Osteomyelitis after trauma or bone surgery usually is associated with persistent or recurrent fever, increased pain at the operative or trauma site, and poor incisional healing, which often is accompanied by continued wound drainage and wound separation. Prosthetic joint infections often present with joint pain, fever, and cutaneous drainage. There is no indication the client has developed a bone cancer.