Objective: To explore the pathogenic organism of septic arthritis of temporomandibular joint and the culture condition of the available bacteria.
Methods: Joint fluid was aspirated from 30 patients in recent 5 years. Smear and Gram stain of joint fluid were done immediately, then cultured in blood agar, bacteria-preserving culture medium, trypticase soy agar(TSA) or trypticase soy broth(TSB) under aerobic or anaerobic condition, respectively. Pathogen identification was performed with biochemical methods.
Results: Microorganism were found with Gram staining in 15 out of 30 cases, but the culture of bacteria only succeeded in 5 cases. Staphylococcus saprophyticus and Staphylococcus aureus were the bacteria isolated. Bacteria was isolated in TSB mostly.
Conclusions: 2 kinds of microorganism were isolated from joint fluid, and S. saprophyticus was reported for the first time. However, the positive rate was low, and the better technique for culture was expected.