Late sequelae of septic arthritis of the hip in infancy and childhood.

We report a multicenter long-term follow-up study of patients with septic arthritis of the hip during infancy or childhood. Group I ("infantile") consisted of patients with onset before age 3 months, and Group II ("childhood") consisted of patients in whom onset occurred after age 3 months. Patients were specifically examined for this review. Generally, patients at follow-up had poor anatomic appearance radiographically and scored poorly on the Harris rating system. However, pain and activity restriction were minimal. Patients who were not treated operatively tended to function better than patients who underwent operative reconstruction.