Septic Arthritis of a Lumbar Facet Joint and a Sternoclavicular Joint

AbstractSeptic arthritis of the facet joint is an extremely rare condition, even more in young immunocompetent patients. There have been approximately only 40 cases of this entity reported worldwide. Here, the authors present a 16-year-old male patient with lower back pain, fever, and cephalea. Blood cultures and cerebrospinal fluid analysis confirmed methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus infection, and magnetic resonance imaging showed septic arthritis of the lumbar left facet joint L3 and epidural abscess. Intravenous oxacillin was administered, and the patient improved. No other treatment was required.

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Septic arthritis of the lumbar facet joint with associated epidural abscess treated with endoscopic spinal surgery - A case report

International Journal of Case Reports in Orthopaedics ◽

10.22271/27078345.2021.v3.i2c.80 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. 114-117

Author(s):

Nadia De Oliveira ◽

André Vinha ◽

Filipe Castelo ◽

Bárbara Costa ◽

Ricardo Sousa ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Case Report ◽

Septic Arthritis ◽

Spinal Surgery ◽

Epidural Abscess ◽

Facet Joint ◽

Lumbar Facet Joint ◽

Endoscopic Spinal Surgery ◽

Lumbar Facet

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Septic arthritis in a lumbar facet joint: a rare cause of an epidural abscess

Neuroradiology ◽

10.1007/bf00600094 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 37 (6) ◽

pp. 462-464 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

S. D. Heenan ◽

J. Britton

Keyword(s):

Septic Arthritis ◽

Epidural Abscess ◽

Facet Joint ◽

Lumbar Facet Joint ◽

Lumbar Facet

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Unilateral Septic Arthritis of a Lumbar Facet Joint Secondary to Acupuncture Treatment - a Case Report

Acupuncture in Medicine ◽

10.1136/aim.22.3.152 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 22 (3) ◽

pp. 152-155 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

Sachin Daivajna ◽

Alwyn Jones ◽

Michael O’Malley ◽

Hossein Mehdian

Keyword(s):

Septic Arthritis ◽

Inflammatory Markers ◽

Acupuncture Treatment ◽

Facet Joint ◽

Full Range ◽

Lumbar Facet Joint ◽

Mri Scan ◽

History Of ◽

The Right ◽

Lumbar Facet

This report describes a case of septic arthritis of the lumbar facet joint probably as a result of acupuncture treatment. A 48 year old man with a long history of back pain presented with a two week history of increasing pain following a third session of acupuncture. Examination revealed tenderness in the right lumbosacral area and laboratory investigations revealed raised inflammatory markers with negative blood cultures. A bone scan and MRI scan showed evidence of septic arthritis of the right L5/S1 facet joint. An x ray computed tomography guided biopsy was carried out which isolated staphylococcus aureus. The patient was initially treated with intravenous antibiotics. A repeat MRI scan demonstrated persistent septic arthritis with adjacent early abscess formation. Surgical debridement of the facet joint was therefore performed. The patient had resolution of his symptoms and the inflammatory markers returned to normal. He regained a full range of movement of the lumbar spine. Very few cases have been reported of lumbar facet joint septic arthritis and this condition is rare in association with acupuncture treatment. A high index of suspicion needs to be maintained and if conservative management fails then debridement can result in an acceptable outcome.

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