Septic Arthritis: Another Success Story for Steroids

As many as 25% of children with septic arthritis develop residual joint dysfunction. Investigators in Costa Rica conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial in which 100 children with septic arthritis were assigned either to antibiotics alone or to antibiotics plus 12 doses of intravenous corticosteroids (administered during 4 days).

Symptoms resolved significantly faster in the steroid recipients than in controls (2.3 vs. 7.8 days). Compared with children in the control group, significantly fewer children in the steroid group had dysfunctional joints (based on range of motion and, for the hip, limb-shortening) at both 6 months (2% vs. 37%) and 12 months (2% vs. 26%) after treatment.