title: Synovial fluid lactic acid levels in septic arthritis.
abstract: Synovial fluid lactic acid estimations were carried out on 50 samples by gas liquid chromatography. Specimens from 4 patients with bacteria arthritis, other than gonococcal, had a mean lactic acid concentration of 215 mg/dl. One patient with gonococcal arthritis had a synovial fluid lactic acid of 30 mg/dl. Forty-one patients with inflammatory arthritis and 4 patients with degenerative arthritis had mean synovial fluid lactic acid levels of 27 and 23 mg/dl respectively. The estimation of synovial fluid lactic acid is reliable in differentiating septic arthritis from inflammatory and degenerative arthritis except when the infecting organism is NEisseria gonorrhoeae.
mesh_terms: D001170:Arthritis, Infectious / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism*; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000175:diagnosis; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D007773:Lactates / Q000032:analysis*; D013582:Synovial Fluid / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D007773:Lactates