Acute septic arthritis, infectious arthritis, suppurative arthritis, osteomyelitis, or joint infection is the invasion of a joint by an infectious agent resulting in joint inflammation. Generally speaking, symptoms typically include redness, heat and pain in a single joint associated with a decreased ability to move the joint. Onset is usually rapid. Other symptoms may include fever, weakness and headache. Occasionally, more than one joint may be involved, especially in neonates and younger children. In neonates, infants during the first year of life, and toddlers, the signs and symptoms of septic arthritis can be deceptive and mimic other infectious and non-infectious disorders.In children, septic arthritis is usually caused by non-specific bacterial infection and commonly hematogenous, i.e., spread through the bloodstream. Septic arthritis and/or acute hematogenous osteomyelitis usually occurs in children with no co-occurring health problems. Other routes of infection include direct trauma and spread from a nearby abscess. Other less common cause include specific bacteria as mycobacterium tuberculosis, viruses, fungi and parasites. In children, however, there are certain groups that are specifically vulnerable to such infections namely preterm infants, neonates in general, children and adolescence with hematologic disorders, renal osteodystrophy and immune-compromised status. In adults vulnerable groups include an artificial joint, prior arthritis, diabetes and poor immune function. Diagnosis is generally based on accurate correlation between history-taking and clinical examination findings and basic laboratory and imaging findings like joint ultrasound.In children septic arthritis can have serious consequences if not treated appropriately and timely. Initial treatment typically includes antibiotics such as vancomycin, ceftriaxone or ceftazidime.
The use of prophylactic antibiotics before dental, genitourinary, gastrointestinal procedures to prevent infection of the implant is controversial.Low-quality evidence suggests that the use of corticosteroids may reduce pain and the number of days of antibiotic treatment in children. Outcomes
Risk of permanent impairment of the joint varies greatly. This usually depends on how quickly treatment is started after symptoms occur as longer lasting infections cause more destruction to the joint. The involved organism, age, preexisting arthritis, and other comorbidities can also increase this risk. Gonococcal arthritis generally does not cause long term impairment. For those with Staphylococcus aureus septic arthritis, 46 to 50% of the joint function returns after completing antibiotic treatment. In pneumococcal septic arthritis, 95% of the joint function will return if the person survives. One-third of people are at risk of functional impairment (due to amputation, arthrodesis, prosthetic surgery, and deteriorating joint function) if they have an underlying joint disease or a synthetic joint implant. Mortality rates generally range from 10 to 20%. These rates increase depending on the offending organism, advanced age, and comorbidities such as rheumatoid arthritis. Epidemiology
In children and adolescence septic arthritis and acute hematogenous osteomyelitis occurs in about 1.34 to 82 per 100,000 per annual hospitalization rates. In adults septic arthritis occurs in about 5 people per 100,000 each year. It occurs more commonly in older people. With treatment, about 15% of people die, while without treatment 66% die. References


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