Septic arthritis

Infect Dis Clin North Am. 2005 Dec;19(4):799-817. doi: 10.1016/j.idc.2005.07.004.

Abstract

Septic arthritis has increased in incidence in the United States in the past two decades, and increasingly affects an older population with a greater burden of chronic illness and a higher risk for drug-resistant organisms. Successful management depends on a high diagnostic suspicion, empiric antibiotic treatment, and joint drainage. A bacteriologic diagnosis is more likely with inoculation into blood culture bottles than plating on solid media. As MRSA increases in prevalence in the community, empiric anti-biotic regimens increasingly need to be active against MRSA.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Arthritis, Infectious* / complications
  • Arthritis, Infectious* / diagnosis
  • Arthritis, Infectious* / microbiology
  • Arthritis, Infectious* / therapy
  • Humans
  • Risk Factors
  • Treatment Outcome