Clinical Findings
- Hot
- Swollen
- Painful
- Reduced Movement
Clinical Findings for Septic arthritis are pretty typical of infection. You'll often find a hot, swollen joint that has significantly reduced range of movement. The swelling isn't as well defined as bursitis and is more generalised around the joint than a specific point.
The swelling can be quite subtle as well, for example on the picture on the slide you can see the swelling but there isn't that typical redness and obvious tense skin we've seen in previous examples.
On examination its also useful to look at the hands and feet for signs of gout and rheumatoid arthritis as these can cause Acute Arthritis that presents very similarly to Septic Arthritis.
No. But it does paint more of a picture for you and may influence what you do if the cultures from the knee come back negative.
