A Case of Hysterical Disease of Both Hips and Both Knees, with Extreme Distortion of the Lower Limbs

The following case is a remarkable instance of the mimicry of joint-disease in hysteria. For three years the patient was under the treatment of various surgeons for organic disease of the hip, and yet when the true nature of the affection was recognised she was cured in less than three months. The affection for more than two years was confined to one hip, and was considered to be certainly tubercular in nature, and the treatment adopted was the ordinary one for such a condition?absolute rest, with splint and extension. Moreover, repeated examination of the joint under an anaesthetic failed to reveal its true nature.