Liquid Fat in the Knee Joint after Trauma

WHEN blood is aspirated from the knee joint after a knee injury, it is often mixed with visible droplets of liquid fat.1 Fat in the blood can also be recognized on x-ray examination by the detection of fat and a fat-blood level on lateral radiographs of the knee made with the x-ray beam horizontal.2 The presence of liquid fat is of interest not only as indirect evidence of a fracture that may be occult but also, because a large volume of fat is often present in the joint, for certain implications regarding fat embolism.Case ReportsGase 1. A 38-year-old . . .