Septic arthritis of the knee in adults: treatment by arthroscopy or arthrotomy.

Fifty-one patients with septic arthritis of the knee were reviewed retrospectively. Twenty-seven patients had been treated by arthroscopic lavage and debridement, 24 patients by open arthrotomy with subtotal synovectomy. The patients were staged according to the duration of preoperative symptoms and to the intraoperative spread of the inflammatory process. With early onset of therapy (less than 5 days) and without osseous involvement arthroscopic treatment led to an effective resolution of infection with better functional results than open arthrotomy.