Screening for septic hip arthritis in neonatal sepsis

Aim: To screen for septic arthritis of the hip joint in neonatal sepsis to know the prevalence and factors associated with septic arthritis. Subjects and Methods: This study was conducted on 80 septic neonates (cases) and 20 normal neonates (controls) in Benha University NICU from February 2015 to January 2016. Cases were screened for diagnosis of septic arthritis of the hip joint by using ultrasonography (General Electric 2012). Results: Among 80 septic neonates and 20 normal neonates about 16 cases of them had positive hip findings. There were 8 cases out of 80 (10%) presented with septic arthritis, 7 cases (8.8%) presented with tenosynovitis and only one case (1.25%) presented with developmental dysplasia of the hip joint. They showed a highly significant correlation with femoral arterial blood gas sampling, interventions for urinary tract and also similar conditions in the family as risk factors. Ultrasound revealed severe effusion with turbidity in septic hip arthritis and minimal effusion with no turbidity in tenosynovitis. Conclusion: Our results revealed that 16 cases (20%) out of 80 septic neonates had positive hip findings by ultrasound examination as follows: 8 cases (10%) with septic arthritis, 7 cases (8.75%) with tenosynovitis, and one case (1.25%) with developmental dysplasia of the hip joint.