 If the knee is swollen and red and warm to the touch when compared to the other knee, a doctor may be concerned about inflammation due to rheumatoid arthritis or a crystalline arthritis, such as gout or pseudogout, or joint infection.Besides sending the joint fluid to a laboratory for analysis, blood tests may requested to determine a white blood cell count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and perhaps the level of C-reactive protein or uric acid.If blood tests reveal Lyme disease antibodies forming, the condition may be attributed to it.