Treatment of staphylococcal septic arthritis in rabbits by systemic antibiotics and intra-articular corticosteroids

Objective - To assess the effect of intraarticular corticosteroids added to systemic antibiotics in experimental septic arthritis. Methods - Rabbits were injected intraarticularely by Staphylococcus epidermidis. Rabbits received no additional treatment and served as control (group 1), were treated with systemic antibiotics (group 2), or treated with systemic antibiotics and intra-articular corticosteroids (group 3). After 15 days animals were killed and joint histopathological-histochemical parameters were assessed. Results - All rabbits survived the experiment. The treated groups (2-3) had lower histological-histochemical scores in comparison with the untreated group (1). Group 3 had significantly lower scores in joint sections in comparison with group 2: (mean (SD) 6.5 (1.4) v 4.0 (1.0), p=0.001 and 7.4 (2.6) v 4.2 (2.2), p=0.01), because of lower damage expressed in clustering of chondrocytes, pannus formation, proteoglycan depletion, and synovitis. Conclusion - Addition of local corticosteroids to systemic antibiotics in septic arthritis seems to be harmless, and improves joint histological- histochemical parameters in this experimental setting.