Infectious Arthritis

Arthritis is inflammation in a joint. There are many types of arthritis. Infectious arthritis is arthritis caused by a bacterial infection in a joint.

• Your joint can get infected if another infection in your body spreads to the joint, or if your joint gets infected during surgery or from an injury

• Usually only one large joint, such as your knee or shoulder, is affected

• Your joint will be swollen, red, and sore, and you may have a fever

• If left untreated, infectious arthritis can damage your joint

• Doctors treat the infection with antibiotics and sometimes surgery to drain pus out of your joint

A joint can get infected from:

• A cut, bite, or puncture wound over a joint

• A skin infection close to a joint

• Surgery on a joint

• Gonorrhea that spreads to your joints

You're more likely to get infectious arthritis if you:

• Have an artificial joint

• Use needles to inject street drugs

• Have alcohol use disorder

• Have rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, or other joint problems

• Have a weak immune system

A joint infection usually begins quickly. Your joint gets:

• Very painful

• Red and warm

• Swollen and stiff

Sometimes, you get fever and chills.

In infants and children too young to talk, it can be hard to tell what's bothering them, but symptoms may include:

• Not moving the infected joint

• Being irritable

• Refusing to eat

• Fever

• Refusing to walk if the infected joint is in a leg

Doctors will:

• Take a sample of fluid out of your joint with a needle to do tests

To tell what caused your joint infection, doctors may do:

• Blood tests

• Spinal fluid and urine tests

• X-rays, MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), or ultrasound of the joint

Doctors treat infectious arthritis with:

• Antibiotics or antifungal medicine

• Taking the pus out of your joint with a needle or, sometimes, surgery

• A splint on the joint, followed by physical therapy