Table 6

Author, date and country	Patient group	Study type (level of evidence)	Outcomes	Key results	Study weaknesses
Del Beccaro MA et al, 1992, USA	138 children age 2.5 weeks to 12 years admitted with acute hip pain	Diagnostic test study	Septic arthritis of the hip		Retrospective chart review including neonates. Gold standard not universally applied.
			Raised ESR alone	Sensitivity 79%
			Raised ESR and temperature	Sensitivity 97%
Taylor GR and Clarke NMP, 1994, UK	417 consecutive paediatric admissions with hip pain identified on retrospective chart review	Diagnostic test study	Septic arthritis of the hip		Diagnostic tests were not universally applied.
			Raised ESR alone	Sensitivity 90.5%
			Raised ESR and temperature or severe spasm/tenderness	Sensitivity 97%	Numbers do not appear to add up
Fink MA et al, 1995,	50 consecutive children age 1–10 years with acute hip pain	Diagnostic test study	Septic arthritis of the hip		Number too small to be meaningful. Only 1 case of septic arthritis found 14 patients excluded due to loss of data. Retrospective identification of cases.
			Raised ESR alone	Sensitivity 100%
Eich GF et al, 1999, Switzerland	114 children with acute hip pain	Diagnostic test study	Septic arthritis of the hip
			Raised ESR alone	Sensitivity not given
			Raised ESR and temperature or CRP	Sensitivity 100%
Kocher M et al, 1999, USA	282 children with diagnosis of irritable hip	Diagnostic test study	Septic arthritis of the hip		Cohort identified retrospectively
			Raised ESR alone	Sensitivity not given
			Raised ESR and temperature and WCC and inabilty to weight bear	Sensitivity 99.6%