Septic arthritis or acute infectious arthritis is a disease that affects a large joint such as the hip or knee. Usually caused by bacteria, but also by viruses or fungi, which are not necessarily located in the affected joint, infectious arthritis is accompanied by severe pain, which immobilizes the patient.
Various infections, such as Lyme disease, infectious hepatitis, mumps, measles, and rheumatic fever, can have joint symptoms or cause arthritis without the joint being infected.
The infection can quickly and severely damage the cartilage and bone in the joint, so prompt treatment is crucial. It is only a matter of days, and patients of all ages, from infants to the elderly, can be affected.
How the infection occurs
The bacteria that cause arthritis spreads through the bloodstream from another area of the body, as a result of surgery or an animal bite or insect sting, by spreading an infection close to the joint, such as a wound, an infected wound, but also by the spread of infection from an organ distant from the joint. In children, for example, infectious arthritis is also caused by staphylococcus or streptococcus, from a simple infection of the tonsils.
Who may be affected
Young children and the elderly are at greatest risk of acute infectious arthritis. People with a weakened immune system, those with open wounds and those with conditions such as cancer, diabetes, but also people who have had other joint problems.
Acute infectious arthritis occurs frequently in children, with approximately 50% under 3 years of age. The risk decreases among children routinely vaccinated for Haemophilus influenzae and Streptococcus pneumoniae.
If patients do not receive antibiotic treatment in time or receive a low dose, there is a risk that infectious arthritis can cause permanent damage to the tissues and bones in the joint or septicemia, which can be fatal.
What are the symptoms?
Symptoms usually appear in a single joint and come on quickly, with severe pain, joint swelling, and fever. The patient may have chills, fatigue and generalized weakness, inability to move the affected limb, severe pain in that joint, warmth in the affected area – the joint is red and warmer than the rest of the body, due to increased blood flow to the area.
What treatment should be followed
How the disease affects a person’s life depends on the affected joints. For example, damage to the knee joint can affect a person’s ability to stand or walk. Immediate treatment with antibiotics is vital, but in the long term, people with infectious arthritis must do physiotherapy and PHYSICAL THERAPY to reduce symptoms and prevent permanent damage to the affected joint.
A patient arrived at hospital with very great pains in the left knee, which made it impossible for her to sit even at the edge of the bed. After a medical recovery for a few weeks at Saint Sava Hospital in Pantelimon, his evolution was so good that it amazed the patient’s family. She managed to walk alone, with the help of a cane, being able to live alone, without needing to be permanently assisted by someone.
”The evolution of the patient was amazingly good. For all the service provided to the patient, thank you very much, and words are not enough.” – excerpt from the letter left by the patient’s family upon discharge.
In the Saint Sava Hospital from Pantelimon, any type of medical recovery is carried out, after any type of operation and for any kind of condition, not just orthopedic ones. This medical center is known for the best treatments proven in medical recoverywhich contains treatment plans both from the specialty of PHYSICAL THERAPYas well as of physiotherapy, therapeutic massagebut also many other treatments that are not exclusively related to the locomotor system.
At the Saint Sava Hospital, medical recovery is done with hospitalization in rooms with 2 or 3 beds. Each salon is connected to the oxygen system, has its own bathroom, adapted to the needs of patients with major locomotor impairments and is video-supervised from the on-call rooms, so that at any moment, patients in difficulty or in need of help are observed and support immediately.
Contact details of the Saint Sava Hospital:
0724.021.090 | 0724.338.881
https://spitalulsfantulsava.ro/
https://spitalulsfantulsava.ro/recuperare-medicala/
https://spitalulsfantulsava.ro/ingrijiri-paliative/
https://spitalulsfantulsava.ro/kinetoterapie/
