[Knee septic arthritis: 100 cases report in intertropical zone]

The authors report 100 cases of knee septic arthritis seen during ten years among 2298 patients admitted in the rheumatology department of Brazzaville university teaching hospital. Bone and joint infection is the first hospitalisation cause in this service. Knee is the first septic localization with 42% of cases coming before hip 25%, sacro-iliac 18% and shoulder 7%. Patients are 56 males and 44 females aged from 5 to 79 years old, average 35 years. Most frequently germs are Staphylococcus aureus in half cases, Mycobacterium tuberculosis in 30% of cases and gram-negative bacillus. Contributing factors are AIDS: 12 cases, diabetes mellitus: 7 cases, alcohol-tobacco intoxications: 4 cases, ickle-cell disease: 3 cases, gout and renal failure in 2 cases each. Late diagnosis and consultation, inadapted antibiotic drugs are responsible for important articular damages compromising further functional prognosis.