Septic Arthritis Treatment

Once you have been diagnosed with septic arthritis in one or more articulations (this occurs in extremely rare cases) you will be given a specific prescription and will have to attend the doctor’s office regularly until you are both reassured the infection is gone. The typical septic arthritis treatment includes antibiotic treatment and fluid drainage.

Once an articulation has been diagnosed as infected, it will be treated as any other infection. As we all know, in case of infections, antibiotics are administrated in doses that vary in frequency and quantity depending on the infection type and its severity. Generally, before the antibiotic treatment starts, the doctor has to do certain tests including a blood test, a local tissue test and additional tests that target normal infection nucleus like genital organs, lungs, ears etc to try and determine the type of virus or bacteria that infected you and the degree of spreading in the body. If the bacteria or fungus is also found in your blood, then stronger and targeted drugs may be more appropriate.

The most efficient septic arthritis treatment is the antibiotic treatment that is administrated directly into the infected articulation with the help of a syringe. These antibiotic injections will act faster than oral antibiotics and their action is more targeted, avoiding the risk of digestive problems in case of long term use. Under normal circumstances , antibiotics are recommended for two weeks , but if the specific bacteria that infected your articulation is more resistant or the infection is too wide, you might need to take antibiotics for a longer time, usually up to six weeks. At some point during the treatment, injections might be stopped if the infection decreased and the swelling in the articulation has disappeared. Then you will have to continue your septic arthritis treatment using oral antibiotics, which will be carefully chosen to fit your body sensitivities and the bacterial resistance.

Sometimes, creams that contain antibiotics are suggested, when the infection is almost defeated or when the degree it affected the articulation is very small (in other words, if the septic arthritis is discovered in early stages).

When the swelling its severe and it is obvious that there is an accumulation of infected and purulent liquid near you articulation, then a drainage might be suggested and done by your doctor. The drainage might be done surgically or with the help of a needle that remains into your articulation and allows liquid to freely come out and fill up a special medical dressing. This needle and the attached medical dressing sachet will get changed frequently.