Septic arthritis

Find out about septic arthritis, which is a serious type of joint infection that should be treated straight away.

Septic arthritis is a serious type of joint infection. It should be treated as soon as possible. You can make a full recovery with treatment but if left untreated it can be more serious.

The main symptoms of septic arthritis are:

  • sudden severe pain in a joint
  • not being able to move or put weight on the affected joint
  • hot, swollen or red skin over the affected joint – redness may be harder to see on black or brown skin
  • a high temperature (fever) – although not everyone has one.

Symptoms of septic arthritis usually develop quickly over a few days and need to be checked straight away.

You need urgent medical help if you think you have septic arthritis.

Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 if:

  • you have severe joint pain, usually in just 1 joint, that started suddenly
  • you have swelling around a joint
  • the skin around a joint has changed colour
  • you find it difficult to move a joint
  • you have pain in a joint and feel generally unwell and have a high temperature, or feel hot, cold or shivery

If you cannot get an urgent GP appointment, call 111 or get help from 111 online.

If you have septic arthritis you’ll usually be admitted to hospital for treatment. This may include:

  • antibiotics given straight into a vein
  • a procedure to drain fluid from the affected joint
  • antibiotic tablets to take for several weeks after you leave hospital

The average stay in hospital if you have septic arthritis is about 2 weeks. Most people start feeling better quickly once they are given antibiotics.

Important

If you're given antibiotic tablets when you leave hospital, it's important to keep taking them for as long as you are told to, even if you feel better. Stopping treatment too soon could lead to the infection coming back.

You may be referred to a physiotherapist to help you get the joint moving again. This should help prevent any long-term stiffness in the joint.

If the infection is in an artificial joint, such as in a knee or hip replacement, the joint may need to be removed. It may be possible to replace it with a new artificial joint once the infection has been treated.

You can get septic arthritis if germs get into a joint. This can happen:

  • if you have an injury or accident affecting a joint
  • if germs from somewhere else in the body spread into the blood and then into a joint
  • as a complication of joint surgery

Who is at risk of septic arthritis

Anyone can get septic arthritis but some people are more at risk. This includes people:

  • with rheumatoid arthritis
  • with a weakened immune system
  • who have recently had joint surgery
  • who have an artificial joint, such as a knee or hip replacement
  • who inject drugs like heroin
  • who have diabetes
  • with gonorrhoea, which is a sexually transmitted infection