[Arthritis of the hip in paraplegic patients. Apropos of 8 cases]

Eight instances of septic arthritis of the hip were treated in 6 paraplegics. On each occasion the hip had been infected through a nearby ulcer. In 2 cases the diagnosis was only made at operation because signs of a severe infection are not obvious in paraplegics. The radiographs were often misleading, the joint space being either normal or narrowed even before the onset of sepsis. The treatment combined antibiotic therapy with resection of the head and neck stabilized by external fixation for 45 days. The procedure was only successful in 5 cases out of 8 as far as infection was concerned. The resection did not impair ability to sit in this type of patient.