Consequences of Delaying Surgical Intervention in Patients With Native Joint Septic Arthritis

Although recent guidance recommends early surgical debridement for native joint septic arthritis (NJSA), supporting data, particularly on long-term outcomes, remains scarce.

We conducted a retrospective multicenter cohort study of adults (≥18 years) with NJSA who underwent surgery across Mayo Clinic campuses between 2012 and 2021. Clinical outcomes at 1 year were assessed using a 9-level Desirability of Outcome Ranking (DOOR) scale, incorporating survival, treatment failure (relapse, reinfection, readmission, or significant surgical events), and joint recovery. Time to surgery from hospital admission was analyzed both as a continuous variable and as categories: < 1, 1-2, or ≥3 days.

Among 268 patients, 30% underwent surgery <1 day from admission, 47% in 1-2 days, and 24% in ≥3 days. At 1 year, 57% achieved full recovery without unfavorable events (DOOR score 1), while treatment failure occurred in 34%. In unadjusted analyses, longer surgical delay was significantly associated with higher (worse) DOOR scores (per IQR increase [from 0 to 2 days], OR: 1.5; 95% CI: 1.0-2.1; P = .026), increased 1-year mortality (HR: 1.7; 95% CI: 1.1-2.6; P = .019) and treatment failure (HR: 1.5; 95% CI: 1.1-2.0; P = .007). Even after adjusting for age and Charlson comorbidity index, the association between surgical delay and treatment failure remained significant (HR: 1.5; 95% CI, 1.1-2.0; P = .016).

The finding that delayed surgical intervention is associated with an increased risk of treatment failure reinforces current expert recommendations for timely surgical management in NJSA.