Septic arthritis surgical management

Jump to navigation Jump to search

Septic arthritis Microchapters

Home

Patient Information

Overview

Historical Perspective

Classification

Pathophysiology

Causes

Differentiating Septic Arthritis from other Diseases

Epidemiology and Demographics

Risk Factors

Natural History, Complications and Prognosis

Diagnosis

History and Symptoms

Physical Examination

Laboratory Findings

X Ray

CT

MRI

Other Diagnostic Studies

Treatment

Medical Therapy

Surgical Therapy

Primary Prevention

Cost-Effectiveness of Therapy

Future or Investigational Therapies

Case Studies

Case #1

Septic arthritis surgical management On the Web

Most recent articles

Most cited articles

Review articles

CME Programs

Powerpoint slides

Images

American Roentgen Ray Society Images of Septic arthritis surgical management

All Images
X-rays
Echo & Ultrasound
CT Images
MRI

Ongoing Trials at Clinical Trials.gov

US National Guidelines Clearinghouse

NICE Guidance

FDA on Septic arthritis surgical management

CDC on Septic arthritis surgical management

Septic arthritis surgical management in the news

Blogs on Septic arthritis surgical management

Directions to Hospitals Treating Septic arthritis

Risk calculators and risk factors for Septic arthritis surgical management

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Venkata Sivakrishna Kumar Pulivarthi M.B.B.S [2]

Overview

Successful treatment of septic arthritis include both anti microbial therapy and removal of intra-articular pus with surgical management. Surgical or arthroscopic management will increase the risk of infections when compared to diagnostic arthroscopic procedures without further procedures. Infection rate depends on the type of procedure (open procedures 17% and arthroscopic procedures 11%), duration of the procedure and prior joint disease.[1]

Surgical management options include:

  • Closed needle aspiration
  • Open drainage
  • Tidal irrigation
  • Arthroscopy
  • Arthrotomy

There is no specific guidelines for the surgical management but the efficacy of the surgical treatment depends on the clinical condition of the patient.

Surgical Management

Arthroscopic procedures combined with a anti microbial regimen is an efficient way in treating septic arthritis. If symptoms persist with antibiotic therapy, repeated arthroscopic irrigation can be beneficial. Surgical management is useful mainly in non gonococcal arthritis, but in gonococcal arthritis they are rarely used such as in patients with persistent effusion and procedures such as tidal irrigation, arthroscopic lavage or arthrotomy or open drainage are less commonly used in gonococcal arthritis.[2]

Surgical management option Description
Needle aspiration
  • Best initial surgical option if joint is easily accessible such as peripheral joints except in hip( e.g. Knee, ankle, elbow and wrist etc.).[3] Require 5-7 days for adequate response to needle drainage.
  • Very accessible to remove large amount of purulent synovial fluid unless there is presence of negative prognostic factors such as:[4][5][6]
  • Useful in repetitive drainage in the management of recurrent infections (frequency include daily initially and then twice daily until the effusion no longer accumulate)[7]
Open drainage
  • Initial open drainage is useful in patients with inaccessible joint involvement such as axial joints (e.g. hip, shoulder and sternoclavicular joint) especially in children.[8]
  • Useful in:[9]
    • Persistent joint infections ( > 7 days)[5][10]
    • Patient with delayed initiation of treatment with prior history of joint disease
    • Presence of loculations that inhibit drainage
    • Inadequate clinical response with gradual decrease in WBC count in synovial fluid and negative gram stain
    • Presence of coexistent osteomyelitis[11]
    • Patients with prosthetic joint infection
Tidal irrigation
  • Bed side procedure and effective as arthroscopy
  • It is a closed-system irrigation method may be useful in:[10]
    • when there is incomplete evacuation with needle aspiration
    • When multiple synovial fluid samples demonstrate different characteristics
    • When imaging studies demonstrating the presence of loculations inside the synovium
Arthroscopic lavage
  • Useful in persistent joint infections ( >7 days)[10]
  • Best effect seen in patients with deep joint involvement such as hip with loculations or abscesses
  • Allows extensive debridement with small incision which allows rapid recovery[4]
  • It is less invasive than open drainage and more efficacious than needle aspiration in both drainage and visualization of the joint
Arthrotomy Arthrotomy best useful in:[5][12]
  • Patients with increased risk of neuropathy or compromised blood supply when infected joint is not accessible with less invasive methods. Joint decompression with arthrotomy will reduce these complications
  • When the infected pathogen is confirmed as Pseudomonas to reduce oxygen tension and PH in infected joint.
  • In patients with negative prognostic factors

As the volume of synovial fluid, the cell count, and the % of polymorphonuclear leukocytes decrease with each aspiration, it is advisable to switch to combination therapy with both antibiotics and needle aspiration whenever needed.

References

  1. Armstrong RW, Bolding F, Joseph R (1992) Septic arthritis following arthroscopy: clinical syndromes and analysis of risk factors. Arthroscopy 8 (2):213-23. PMID: 1637435
  2. Stutz G, Kuster MS, Kleinstück F, Gächter A (2000) Arthroscopic management of septic arthritis: stages of infection and results. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc 8 (5):270-4. DOI:10.1007/s001670000129 PMID: 11061294
  3. 3.0 3.1 Rosenthal J, Bole GG, Robinson WD (1980) Acute nongonococcal infectious arthritis. Evaluation of risk factors, therapy, and outcome. Arthritis Rheum 23 (8):889-97. PMID: 6773530
  4. 4.0 4.1 Goldenberg DL, Cohen AS (1976) Acute infectious arthritis. A review of patients with nongonococcal joint infections (with emphasis on therapy and prognosis). Am J Med 60 (3):369-77. PMID: 769545
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Goldenberg DL, Reed JI (1985) Bacterial arthritis. N Engl J Med 312 (12):764-71. DOI:10.1056/NEJM198503213121206 PMID: 3883171
  6. Goldenberg DL, Brandt KD, Cohen AS, Cathcart ES (1975) Treatment of septic arthritis: comparison of needle aspiration and surgery as initial modes of joint drainage. Arthritis Rheum 18 (1):83-90. PMID: 1115748
  7. Rinaldi RZ, Harrison WO, Fan PT (1982) Penicillin-resistant gonococcal arthritis. A report of four cases. Ann Intern Med 97 (1):43-5. PMID: 6807166
  8. SAMILSON RL, BERSANI FA, WATKINS MB (1958) Acute suppurative arthritis in infants and children; the importance of early diagnosis and surgical drainage. Pediatrics 21 (5):798-804. PMID: 13542125
  9. Jackson MA, Nelson JD (1982) Etiology and medical management of acute suppurative bone and joint infections in pediatric patients. J Pediatr Orthop 2 (3):313-23. PMID: 6752200
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 Ho G, Su EY (1982) Therapy for septic arthritis. JAMA 247 (6):797-800. PMID: 7057556
  11. Petersen S, Knudsen FU, Andersen EA, Egeblad M (1979) [Acute hematogenous osteomyelitis and purulent arthritis in childhood. A 10-year retrospective study with follow-up studies.] Ugeskr Laeger 141 (23):1563-7. PMID: 462600
  12. Knights EM (1982) Infectious arthritis. J Foot Surg 21 (3):229-33. PMID: 6749955



Template:WikiDoc Sources