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Infectious arthritis: clinical features, laboratory findings and treatment

J W Smith1, P Chalupa, M Shabaz Hasan

  • 1University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Dallas, Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Dallas, TX, USA. jameswilliam.smith@med.va.gov

Clinical Microbiology and Infection : the Official Publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases
|March 10, 2006
PubMed

Insights

Joint infections commonly cause suppurative arthritis, affecting one or multiple joints. Prompt diagnosis and cultures are crucial for identifying infectious causes of inflamed joints, including bacterial, viral, fungal, and mycobacterial origins.

Area of Science:

  • Infectious Diseases
  • Rheumatology
  • Microbiology

Background:

  • Native joint infections typically result in suppurative arthritis, which can be monarticular or oligoarticular.
  • Bacterial infections like Neisseria gonorrhoeae can cause polyarticular symptoms and tenosynovitis.
  • Viral infections often present as non-suppurative polyarthritis, while mycobacteria and fungi cause chronic granulomatous monarticular arthritis.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To differentiate various types of infectious arthritis based on clinical presentation and causative agents.
  • To emphasize the importance of considering infection in all cases of inflamed joints.
  • To highlight the need for appropriate microbiological investigations.

Main Methods:

  • Review of clinical presentations of infectious arthritis.
  • Categorization of arthritis based on causative agents (bacteria, viruses, fungi, mycobacteria).
  • Discussion of sterile arthritis associated with infections.

Main Results:

  • Suppurative arthritis is a common outcome of native joint infections.
  • Diverse pathogens lead to distinct arthritis patterns (monarticular vs. oligoarticular, suppurative vs. non-suppurative).
  • Chronic granulomatous arthritis requires differentiation from other chronic arthritides.
  • Sterile arthritis can be an early or late manifestation of infection.

Conclusions:

  • Infectious arthritis encompasses a spectrum of conditions caused by various microorganisms.
  • Inflamed joints necessitate a high index of suspicion for infection.
  • Appropriate culturing and diagnostic workup are essential for timely and accurate diagnosis of infectious arthritis.

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