What investigations should be done in suspected septic arthritis?
If a physician suspects Septic Arthritis, they order laboratory and non-laboratory tests. Laboratory Tests are: - Joint fluid analysis – To analyze the color, volume, consistency and makeup of joint fluid as the presence of organisms tend to change the properties of fluid, to analyze the presence of crystals and inflammatory cells which indicate non-infectious and infectious conditions respectively. - Blood tests – To detect the presence of micro-organism in blood. - Culture of joint fluid – To detect the presence of yeast, mycobacterium or bacteria which is helpful is choosing the right treatment plan. - Complete Blood Count (CBC) – To detect any reaction by red blood cells and white blood cells. - Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR) – To detect presence and extent of inflammation Non-Laboratory Tests are: - X-Ray – To rule out fractures
Culture of synovial fluid to check whether its bacterial infection or not, and other methods can be done as well apart form culture of the synovial fluid such as tissue which is more sensitive than synovial one because it can detect the presence of fundal infections, apart from so many non cultural methods can be conducted in the diagnosis of septic arthritis such common blood tests, immune essays... and as well imaging methods::: https://actamicrobio.bg/archive/issue-2-2020/amb-2-2020-article-2.pdf