Infectious Arthritis Health Article

Laboratory tests

Laboratory testing is necessary to confirm the diagnosis of infectious arthritis. The doctor will perform an arthrocentesis, which is a procedure that involves withdrawing a sample of synovial fluid (SF) from the joint with a needle and syringe. SF is a lubricating fluid secreted by tissues surrounding the joints. Patients should be warned that arthrocentesis is a painful procedure. The fluid sample is sent for culture in the sealed syringe. SF from infected joints is usually streaked with pus or looks cloudy and watery. Cell counts usually indicate a high level of white cells; a level higher than 100,000 cells/mm3 or a neutrophil proportion greater than 90% suggests septic arthritis. A Gram's stain of the culture obtained from the SF is usually positive for the specific disease organism.

Doctors sometimes order a biopsy of the synovial tissue near the joint if the fluid sample is negative. Cultures of other body fluids, such as urine, blood, or cervical mucus, may be taken in addition to the SF culture.

Diagnostic imaging

Diagnostic imaging is not helpful in the early stages of infectious arthritis. Destruction of bone or cartilage does not appear on x rays until 10–14 days after the onset of symptoms. Imaging studies are sometimes useful if the infection is in a deep-seated joint.

Treatment

Infectious arthritis requires usually requires several days of treatment in a hospital, with follow-up medication and physical therapy lasting several weeks or months.

Medications

Because of the possibility of serious damage to the joint or other complications if treatment is delayed, the patient will be started on intravenous antibiotics before the specific organism is identified. After the disease organism has been identified, the doctor may give the patient a drug that targets the specific bacterium or virus. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are usually given for viral infections.

Intravenous antibiotics are given for about two weeks, or until the inflammation has disappeared. The patient may then be given a two-to four-week course of oral antibiotics.

Surgery

In some cases, surgery is necessary to drain fluid from the infected joint. Patients who need surgical drainage include those who have not responded to antibiotic treatment, those with infections of the hip or other joints that are difficult to reach with arthrocentesis, and those with joint infections related to gunshot or other penetrating wounds.

Patients with severe damage to bone or cartilage may need reconstructive surgery, but it cannot be performed until the infection is completely gone.

Monitoring and supportive treatment

Infectious arthritis requires careful monitoring while the patient is in the hospital. The doctor will drain the joint on a daily basis and remove a small sample of fluid for culture to check the patient's response to the antibiotic.

Infectious arthritis often causes intense pain. Patients are given medications to relieve pain, together with hot compresses or ice packs on the affected joint. In some cases the patient's arm or leg is put in a splint to protect the sore joint from accidental movement. Recovery can be speeded up, however, if the patient practices range-of-motion exercises to the extent that the pain allows.

Prognosis

The prognosis depends on prompt treatment with antibiotics and drainage of the infected joint. About 70% of patients will recover without permanent joint damage. However, many patients will develop osteoarthritis or deformed joints. Children with infected hip joints sometimes suffer damage to the growth plate. If treatment is delayed, infectious arthritis has a mortality rate between 5% and 30% due to septic shock and respiratory failure.

Prevention

Some cases of infectious arthritis are preventable by lifestyle choices. These include avoidance of self-injected drugs; sexual abstinence or monogamous relationships; and prompt testing and treatment for suspected cases of gonorrhea. Patients receiving corticosteroid injections into the joints for osteoarthritis may want to weigh this treatment method against the increased risk of infectious arthritis.