The differential for unilateral hand swelling in the adult includes crystalline arthropathy, septic arthritis, musculoskeletal injury, and other inflammatory conditions. Tools used to establish a diagnosis include arthrocentesis for synovial fluid analysis as well as radiographic imaging. We describe a case of gouty arthritis of the hand masquerading as a triquetral fracture on plain radiograph.
A 61-year-old man initially presented to orthopedics with nontraumatic acute unilateral hand swelling (Figure 1) and was diagnosed with a triquetral …