Unusual case of septic arthritis of the hip: Spread from adjacent adductorpyomyositis

Distinguishing intracapsular and extracapsular hip infections may be clinic ally difficult. Because of this difficulty in diagnosis, the spread of an e xtracapsular infection into the hip joint may be missed and lead to signifi cant joint destruction. The case of a patient who suffered from the spread of adductor pyomyositis to the hip joint is reported. The delay in diagnosi s of an intracapsular hip infection led to significant intra-articular dest ruction and ultimately necessitated a Girdlestone resection arthroplasty. T he patient's hip function was salvaged with a total hip arthroplasty. The p resence of an extracapsular hip infection should mandate serial physical ex aminations and aggressive evaluation to rule out intracapsular spread. A de lay in diagnosis of an intracapsular hip infection can lead to catastrophic results.