Acute septic arthritis of the hip joint in infancy and childhood.

Forty-three children with 45 hip joint infections were admitted to the hospital between 1983 and 1988. The duration of symptoms was the single most important prognostic feature. Almost all children who were treated within four days of symptoms had a satisfactory outcome. Concomitant osteomyelitis of the proximal femur produced by far a worse prognosis than if the infection was confined to the synovium of the hip joint. In addition, patients whose hips were infected with Staphylococcus aureus bacteria were more likely to have a poor prognosis than those whose hips were infected with non-S. aureus bacteria.