What is septic arthritis?

Septic arthritis is an infection in the joint (synovial) fluid and joint tissues. It occurs more often in children than in adults. The infection usually reaches the joints through the bloodstream. In some cases, joints may become infected due to an injection, surgery, or injury.

How do you acquire septic arthritis?

Septic arthritis can develop when an infection, such as a skin infection or urinary tract infection, spreads through your bloodstream to a joint. Less commonly, a puncture wound, drug injection, or surgery in or near a joint — including joint replacement surgery — can give the germs entry into the joint space.

How serious is septic arthritis?

Septic arthritis is extremely painful and can develop quickly. It's a very serious condition which can affect people of any age. It needs to be treated in hospital as soon as possible as an emergency. It's most commonly caused by bacteria, from an infected cut or wound.

Can septic arthritis go away on its own?

Antibiotics often stop the infection in a few days, but in some cases, they must be given over several months. Infectious arthritis caused by a virus usually goes away on its own with no specific treatment and fungal infections are treated with antifungal medication.

How do you fix septic arthritis?

What's the Treatment for Septic Arthritis? Septic arthritis treatments include using a combination of powerful antibiotics as well as draining the infected synovial fluid from the joint. It's likely that antibiotics will be administered immediately to avoid the spread of the infection.

Septic Arthritis - Overview (causes, pathophysiology, treatment)

What are the signs and symptoms of septic arthritis?

Key points about septic arthritis

Symptoms include fever, joint pain, swelling, redness, and warmth. Quick treatment with antibiotics is needed to halt the risk of joint damage. Other treatments include medicines for pain and fever, drainage of the joint, physical therapy, and a splint.

Is septic arthritis an emergency?

Acute nongonococcal septic arthritis is a medical emergency that can lead to significant morbidity and mortality. Therefore, prompt recognition, rapid and aggressive antimicrobial therapy, and surgical treatment are critical to ensuring a good prognosis.

Can septic arthritis be seen on xray?

The earliest plain film radiographic findings of septic arthritis are soft tissue swelling around the joint and a widened joint space from joint effusion; however, uniform narrowing of the joint has also been described.

Why is septic arthritis considered a surgical emergency?

Septic arthritis is considered a surgical emergency. Diagnosis and prompt drainage is required to avoid continued joint damage, which can result in early onset arthritis. Septic arthritis typically occurs related to adjacent osteomyelitis (infection of the bone).

Is septic arthritis common?

Approximately 20,000 cases of septic arthritis occur in the United States each year (7.8 cases per 100,000 person-years), with a similar incidence occurring in Europe. The incidence of arthritis due to disseminated gonococcal infection is 2.8 cases per 100,000 person-years.

What does septic arthritis pain feel like?

you have severe joint pain, usually in just 1 joint, that started suddenly. you have swelling around a joint. the skin around a joint has changed colour. you feel generally unwell and have a high temperature or feel hot and shivery.

What is the most common cause of sepsis?

Bacterial infections cause most cases of sepsis. Sepsis can also be a result of other infections, including viral infections, such as COVID-19 or influenza.

What antibiotics are used for septic arthritis?

Treatment options include vancomycin for gram-positive cocci, ceftriaxone (Rocephin) for gram-negative cocci, and ceftazidime (Fortaz) for gram-negative rods (Table 5³² ). If the Gram stain is negative but there is suspicion of bacterial arthritis, vancomycin plus either ceftazidime or an aminoglycoside is appropriate.

Which STD causes arthritis?

Gonococcal arthritis is a rare complication of the sexually transmitted infection (STI) gonorrhea. It generally causes painful inflammation of the joints and tissues. The arthritis tends to affect women more than it affects men. Gonorrhea is a bacterial infection.

How can you tell the difference between gout and septic arthritis?

Unlike gout, septic arthritis occurs frequently in the knee: Infection in the knee occurs in 50% of cases. Other areas include the hip, shoulder, wrist, and ankle. In cases in which it is difficult to differentiate, septic arthritis should be ruled out through Gram stain and culture of the synovial fluid.

How can you tell the difference between osteomyelitis and septic arthritis?

Osteomyelitis is an infection of the bone that can include the periosteum, medullary cavity, and cortical bone. Septic arthritis is an infection of surface of the cartilage that lines the joint and the synovial fluid that lubricates the joint.

Can you lose your leg from septic arthritis?

Indeed, if there is a delay in diagnosis and treatment, the bacteria will spread deeper into the joint, making it difficult to fully clear the joint and surrounding tissue of infection. In such cases it may be impossible to save the joint, making an amputation necessary.

Can septic arthritis cause amputation?

In a prospective 2-year study of 154 patients (adults and children) by Kaandorp et al, 21% of cases resulted in poor patient outcome (death or severe functional deterioration), and 33% of cases resulted in poor joint outcome (amputation, arthrodesis, prosthetic surgery, or severe functional deterioration).

What mimics septic arthritis?

Clinicians should consider mimics, such as abscess, avascular necrosis, cellulitis, crystal-induced arthropathies, Lyme disease, malignancy, osteomyelitis, reactive arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and transient synovitis.

How do you test for septic arthritis?

How do you know if your joint is infected?

Symptoms may include fever, chills, redness at the site of infection, pain or tenderness over the affected bone, and difficulty using the affected limb. They may, for instance, have trouble walking due to severe pain in the legs.

How do you know if you have an infection in your body?

What is the differential diagnosis of septic arthritis?

When evaluating a patient with suspected septic arthritis, also consider conditions such as primary rheumatologic disorders (eg, vasculitis, crystalline arthritides), drug-induced arthritis, and reactive arthritis (eg, postinfectious diarrhea syndrome, postmeningococcal and postgonococcal arthritis, arthritis of ...

Can septic arthritis be treated with oral antibiotics?

* Following joint drainage, the typical duration of antibiotic therapy for treatment of septic arthritis is three to four weeks; we typically administer parenteral antibiotics for at least 14 days followed by oral therapy for an additional 14 days.

What are the 5 signs of sepsis?