Treatment
Therapy is usually with intravenous antibiotics, analgesia and washout/aspiration of the joint to dryness. Among pediatric patients with an acute hematogenous septic arthritis a short total course of 10 days of antimicrobials is sufficient in uncomplicated cases.
In infection of a prosthetic joint, a biofilm is often created on the surface of the prosthesis which is resistant to antibiotics. Surgical debridement or arthrotomy is usually indicated in these cases. A replacement prosthesis is usually not inserted at the time of removal to allow antibiotics to clear infection of the region.
Patients in whom surgery is contraindicated may trial long-term antibiotic therapy.
Close follow up with physical exam & labs must be done to make sure patient remain afebrile, pain resolved, improved range of motion and normalized lab values.
Read more about this topic: Septic Arthritis
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