Which bacteria are usually responsible for nongonococcal septic arthritis in adults?
Overall causative pathogens are documented by culture in approximately 70% to 90% of septic arthritis patients and include:
| S. aureus | 37%–65% (increasing rates of methicillin resistance) |
| Streptococci | 22% (group B more common in elderly and diabetics) |
| Gram-negative bacilli | 5%–20% |
| Polymicrobial | <8% |
| Coagulase-negative Staphylococci | 4% |
| Culture-negative | 10%–20% |
