Accepted for publication 13 July 1994.
Septic arthritis is a serious disease associated with significant morbidity and mortality.
This study was performed at KKUH, a 640 bed, primary and tertiary care hospital located in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Patients with brucella or gonococcal arthritis were excluded. All synovial fluids were plated on blood agar, chocolate agar, MacConkey and cooked meat broth. The chocolate and blood agar plates were incubated in a C02 incubator and the MacConkey agar plate under aerobic conditions. The cultures were examined at 24 and 48 hours.