About Infection of Joints

Often children of varying age groups develop infection on their bones, joints, or muscles. The infection of joints or septic arthritis is caused by staphylococcus aureus and similar bacteria found in living environments. As the immune systems of young children develops over a period of time, the joint infection easily spread through their bone structure. Also, the joint infection adversely affects the child’s growth and leads to physical dysfunction.

Causes

The infection of joints is normally caused by bacteria like staphylococcus aureus. These bacteria are found in living environments, and infect the joint of young children easily. The bacteria further enter into the child’s body in a number of ways. After entering into the child’s body, the bacteria reach his joint through bloodstream and multiply rapidly. Hence, the parents must treat the joint infection without any delay to boost the child’s growth and development.

Symptoms

The symptoms of joint infection differ from one child to another. The normal symptoms of infection of joints are fever, pain, and difficulty in moving the infected joints. Some children even feel lethargic and irritable when their joints are infected by bacteria. Sometimes the injuries sustained by a child hide the symptoms of joint infection completely. Hence, it becomes essential for parents to get the child’s infected joints examined by an experienced orthopaedic without any delay.

Diagnosis

The skilled orthopaedic always examine the child’s infected joints after discussing the symptoms and medical history. They even ask the child to move the infected joint, and observe if the child experiences pain while moving the infected body part. They even identify the exact cause of joint infection based on blood test or testing the fluids/tissues from the infected area. Some orthopaedics even recommend X-ray, MRI scan, or ultrasound to decide the most effective way to treat the infection of joints.

Treatment

The skilled orthopaedic always treat joint infection non-surgically. Initially, they treat the infection by prescribing antibiotics. However, the child may be required to receive the antibiotic in a number of ways – orally and special intravenous device. The doctor performs surgery only if antibiotic fails to cure the condition completely. They have to remove the bacteria from the infected joints to improve blood pressure and reduce inflammation. The surgery further help the antibiotic to enter into the child’s infected area.

Recovery

Initially, the child has to receive antibiotics through his veins. Hence, he has to get admitted in the hospital for about one to two weeks to treat the joint infection non-surgically. The child can subsequently receive oral antibiotics or receive antibiotics through vein at home with a special intravenous device. On the other hand, the orthopaedic has to perform the surgery till the joint infection is resolved fully. The child has to take admission in the hospital till the surgery is over and the conditions are resolved.

Case 1

A Couple came to me with their one month old kid with history of lack of left leg movement since birth. The baby was treated with various intravenous antibiotics without any result.

After proper clinical and noninvasive investigations, I diagnosed as septic arthritis of left hip joint and arranged surgery (open drainage ) on emergency basis. I did it with incision over inguinal fold resulting a Scar-less incision.

After the operation the baby was further treated with medicines for 4-6 weeks to get a successful outcome.