Biomedical subjects

C Ambord

Publications and source records attributed to C Ambord.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1990

Bacterial arthritis: are fever, rigors, leucocytosis and blood cultures of diagnostic value?

Clinical suspicion, positive gram stains and cultures of the synovial fluid are the fundamental criteria for the diagnosis of bacterial arthritis. Bacterial arthritis may, however, show an oligosymptomatic clinical course and thus lead to a delay in diagnosis. The case records of 43 patients with bacterial arthritis were reviewed retrospectively. Rigors (20.9%), fever (40.5%), blood leucocytosis (41.8%) and a shift to the left of blood leucocytes (35%) were found in less than half of all examined patients. Positive cultures of the synovial fluid (71.4%) were far more frequent than positive blood cultures (23.5%). We conclude, that the absence of fever, rigors, blood leucocytosis and positive blood cultures does not rule out the possibility of bacterial arthritis.

Arthritis, Infectious↗

PubMed1989

[Bacterial arthritis--a retrospective analysis].

Bacterial arthritis is an emergency situation in which rapid diagnosis and immediate therapy are the main factors conditioning a satisfactory functional outcome. Not infrequently, bacterial arthritis may involve only mild clinical features, thus leading to a delay in diagnosis. The case histories of 43 patients with bacterial arthritis are reviewed retrospectively. Only 20.9% mentioned a history of rigor and less than half (40.5%) of the patients had a body temperature elevation above 38 degrees C. Other signs of bacterial infection (i.e. leukocytosis, positive blood cultures, synovial fluid pleocytosis) were less frequent than expected. Functional outcome was better for patients with a short latent period between the onset of clinical symptoms and initiation of treatment.

Adolescent↗