Anatomy
- Septic Arthritis is Infection within the joint space (as opposed to some bursa)
- The acidic environment provided by the bacteria eats away at the hyaline cartilage
- Can be spread via direct inoculation or via haematogenous spread from other soft tissue infection
Septic arthritis is infection within the joint space itself. This is different from bursitis because the infection or inflammation is confined to a bursa. In the knee many of the bursa communicate with the join space so what may start out as septic bursitis will then progress to septic arthritis because they share the synovial cavity.
Once the hyaline cartilage is worn away, which can happen in a matter of hours to days, this leaves the exposed bone in direct contact with the infected material. As we all know bone is alive, it is as much of an organ as your heart, lungs and kidneys. Bones are incredibly vascular and are filled to the brim with fat, minerals and other nutrients that bugs absolutely love; so Osteomyelitis can follow on from a poorly treated septic arthritis which just becomes a nightmare to treat surgically.
