clinical feature and etiology of septic arthritis and osteomyelitis in children

currently there is little information regarding septic arthritis and osteomyelitis in iran. this retrospective study has been conducted to assess the clinical features and determine the pathogens responsible for septic arthritis and osteomyelitis in patients admitted to our hospital over a 10 year period between 1995 and 2005. a total of 145 cases of septic arthritis and osteomyelitis were studied. the mean age of patients was 18 month. 56.5% (82/145) were male and 43.5% (63/145) were female. the most frequent presenting symptom was pain reported by 69.6 % of the patients. fever at presentation defined as an oral temperature above or equal to 38◦ c was present in 67.5 % of the patients. 71 of 145 (48.9%) cases of septic arthritis and osteomyelitis that reviewed in this investigation were culture positive that 71.8 % (51/71) of microorganisms recovered from synovial fluid culture. moreover 8.4% (6/71) of microorganisms isolated from blood culture alone, while 19.7 % (14/71) of microorganisms recovered from both synovial fluid and blood culture. staphylococcus aureus was the most common pathogen isolated, making up 60.5% of all positive culture. coagulase negative staphylococci (cons) and klebsiella sp. was found in 7 cases (9.8%) and 10 cases (14%) respectively. group b streptococcus identified in 5 patients (7%). the present study highlights the importance of characterizing the profile of species causing septic arthritis or osteomyelitis in specific regions.