Staphylococcal and Streptococcal Septic Arthritis in the Elderly

Download Citation in txt Download Citation in bib Download Citation in ris

Author Info

Don Walter Kannangara D. Pandya R. Anmolsingh

Corresponding Author

Don Walter Kannangara
St Luke’s Health network, Warren Campus, Phillipsburg, NJ 08865, USA

A B S T R A C T

In our study, septic arthritis due to Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcal species was more common in the elderly. This contrasts with Lyme arthritis which has a higher incidence in younger patients. The majority of joint infections were in the elderly, with a median age of 65 (range 14-95) for Staphylococcus aureus and 70 for Streptococcal species. The age range of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) septic arthritis was 27-95 (median 72) with 39/53 (73.6%) above age 60. The age range of Streptococcal arthritis patients was 36-86 (median 70). There were more males with septic arthritis for both Staphylococcus aureus (86/134) 64% and streptococci (12/22) 55%. The most frequently involved joint was the knee, 49.3% for S. aureus followed by hip (23.9%), elbow (14.3%), shoulder (14%), wrist (1.5%), ankle (0.75%) and sternoclavicular (0.75%). The knee was affected in 81% of Streptococcal infections, with the rest equally divided between the hip, elbow, acromioclavicular and ankle joints. The history of prior joint replacement in patients with septic arthritis was 21/28 (80%) for MRSA, 36/102 (35.3%) for methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) and 9/21 (43%) for streptococcal arthritis suggestive of healthcare-associated infections. Our results suggest a need for improvements to prevent the entry of pathogens into the surgical site during and after surgery.

Article Info

Article Type

Research Article

Publication history

Received: Fri 22, Jan 2021
Accepted: Mon 08, Feb 2021
Published: Mon 22, Feb 2021

Copyright

© 2023 Don Walter Kannangara. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Hosting by Science Repository.
DOI: 10.31487/j.CMR.2021.01.02