Medical Disclaimer
The information on this page is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
Always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified health professional with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
🚨Emergency? If you have severe symptoms, difficulty breathing, or think it's an emergency, call 000 immediately.
Septic Arthritis (Joint Infection in Adults)
Septic arthritis is a bacterial infection inside a joint causing severe pain, swelling, fever, and inability to move the joint - it's a medical emergency requiring urgent treatment within 6-12 hours to prevent permanent cartilage destruction, with treatment involving emergency surgical drainage and 4-6 weeks of IV antibiotics achieving 70-80% good outcomes if treated promptly, but 25-50% develop permanent joint damage if treatment delayed more than 24 hours.
📖What is Septic Arthritis (Joint Infection in Adults)?
Septic arthritis is a bacterial infection inside a joint causing severe pain, swelling, fever, and inability to move the joint - it's a medical emergency requiring urgent treatment within 6-12 hours to prevent permanent cartilage destruction, with treatment involving emergency surgical drainage and 4-6 weeks of IV antibiotics achieving 70-80% good outcomes if treated promptly, but 25-50% develop permanent joint damage if treatment delayed more than 24 hours.
🔬What Causes It?
- Bacterial infection spreading through bloodstream to joint (hematogenous spread - most common)
- Staphylococcus aureus bacteria (causes 40-50% of cases in adults)
- Streptococcus species (20-30% of cases)
- Neisseria gonorrhoeae in sexually active young adults (gonococcal arthritis)
- Gram-negative bacteria in elderly, immunocompromised, or IV drug users
⚠️Risk Factors
You may be at higher risk if:
- Rheumatoid arthritis (20 times higher risk due to damaged joints and immunosuppressive medications)
- Diabetes mellitus (impaired immune function)
- Immunosuppression (chemotherapy, HIV, chronic steroids)
- Prosthetic joint (artificial hip or knee - bacteria seed on implant surface)
- Recent joint injection or surgery (direct bacterial inoculation)
- IV drug use (bacteria enter bloodstream)
- Age over 80 years (declining immune function)
🛡️Prevention
- ✓Prompt treatment of skin infections (cellulitis, abscesses) to prevent bacteria spreading to joints
- ✓Avoid IV drug use (major risk factor for bloodstream infections)
- ✓Good diabetes control (reduces infection risk)
- ✓Sterile technique for joint injections (doctors use strict sterile protocols - infection risk less than 0.01%)
- ✓Antibiotic prophylaxis before dental work if prosthetic joint (controversial - discuss with orthopedic surgeon)