Table 1

Cases of bacterial arthritis or infected joint prosthesis according to clinical category and infection route

Patient category	Total (n=188)	Haematogenous infection of native joints (n=101)	Haematogenous infection of joints with prosthetic or osteosynthetic material (n=25)	Direct infection of native joints (n=29)	Direct infection of joints with prosthetic or osteosynthetic material (n=33)
Children	38	36	-	2	-
Previously healthy	31	29		2
Concomitant disease^1-150	7	7
Adults, previously healthy	23	16	-	7	-
Adults, immunocompromised^1-151	38	32^1-153	-	6	-
Adults with joint disorders:	63	8	15	13	27
Osteoarthritis	28	5	8	4	11
Rheumatoid arthritis	13	2	5	1	5
Ankylosing spondylitis	1				1
Psoriatic arthritis	1				1
Juvenile chronic arthritis	1				1
History of joint trauma	18	1	2	7	8
History of tuberculous coxitis	1			1
Adults, with joint disorders and immunocompromised^1-152	26	9	10	1	6
Osteoarthritis	4	2			2
Rheumatoid arthritis	19	6	10		3
History of joint trauma	3	1		1	1

↵1-150 Sickle cell trait in two cases; bronchial asthma with eczema, Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy, history of cardiosurgery, impaired killing capacity of neutrophils and impaired chemotaxis of neutrophils, each in one case.
↵1-151 Intravenous drug abuse in 14 (six HIV infected), diabetes mellitus in 11, renal insufficiency in three (two requiring regular dialysis), hematological malignancy in three, AIDS in two and chronic osteomyelitis in two cases. In one cases each: polymyalgia rheumatica treated with prednisone, chronic obstructive lung disease intermittently treated with prednisone, leprosy and alcohol abuse.
↵1-152 Diabetes mellitus in six, breast cancer in four, renal insufficiency in one, and immunosuppressive medication (prednisone, methotrexate or azathioprine) in 18 cases.
↵1-153 Two patients, both intravenous drug misusers, had each two episodes of bacterial arthritis.