Ultrasound could offer a clearer window into joint infections
NCT ID NCT02018952
First seen Sep 14, 2026 · Last updated Sep 15, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
Researchers are testing whether ultrasound can reliably show joint damage and inflammation in people with septic arthritis, a painful joint infection. The trial follows 28 adults with septic arthritis in the shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, knee, or ankle. Participants receive standard care plus ultrasound scans of the affected and opposite joints at several visits over three months. The goal is to see if ultrasound findings can predict how well treatment works and how the joint recovers.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- ultrasonography assessment
- What this could lead to
- If ultrasound proves reliable, doctors could use it to monitor septic arthritis more easily and predict which patients need extra care. It may offer a faster, cheaper alternative to MRI for tracking joint damage.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small, early study with 28 patients and no control group, so results may not apply broadly. Ultrasound images can be hard to interpret consistently, and the trial may not confirm that specific ultrasound signs predict outcomes.
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Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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28 people
The number who actually took part.
- Start date
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Jan 2014
- Finished
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Jul 2015
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
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Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Major patients hospitalized in Rheumatology, Infectiology, Orthopedy Department (hospital of Nantes, of La Roche sur Yon and of Saint-Nazaire) with a septic arthritis of shoulder, or elbow, or wrist , or hip, or knee, or ankle on native joint, with positive microbiologic culture joint fluid or positive hemoculture; the diagnosis was based on positive histology or imagery with an inflammatory joint fluid if the microbiologic cultures (hemoculture or joint effusion) were negative. Exclusion Criteria: * Presence of material on the targeted joint * Age \< 18 years old * Patients under guardianship * Pregnancy
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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CH La Roche-sur-Yon
La Roche-sur-Yon, 85000, France
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CH Saint-Nazaire
Saint-Nazaire, 44600, France
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CH de Nantes
Nantes, 44093, France
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