![\"Radiograph](\"http:\/\/bob_phillips.allmail.net\/septichip.jpg\")
A 3 year old boy presents to the Emergency Department with a limp. He has been reluctant to weight bear on his right leg during the day and has a temperature of 37.9\u00b0C. Hip examination is painful. What clinical or laboratory tests could help discriminate between septic arthritis and transient synovitis?<\/p>\n
Of course, you could just ring up orthopaedics and ask them to take him to theatre and wash out the hip – but you may not win many friends that way. How do you decide there is enough ‘clinical suspicion’ to make the call?<\/p>\n
Well, you’re fortunate to have a team of orthopaedic surgeon and paediatrician have answered this question for you. [EDIT – Jan 2009]<\/p>\n
If you can’t wait for their answer, you might want to post your own here though … [EDIT – Jan 2009] Or now you can read their thoughts here<\/a><\/p>\n (Image from the files of the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A 3 year old boy presents to the Emergency Department with a limp. He has been reluctant to weight bear on his right leg during the day and has a temperature of 37.9\u00b0C. Hip examination is painful. What clinical or laboratory tests could help discriminate between septic arthritis and transient synovitis? Of course, you could […]<\/p>\n