Question:medium
Tom Smith septic arthritis refers to:
Tom Smith septic arthritis refers to:
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Eponym for pyogenic septic arthritis of the infant hip.
Updated On: Jun 24, 2026
- Acute gonococcal arthritis
- Smallpox arthritis
- Septic arthritis of infancy
- Chronic pyogenic arthritis
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The Correct Option is C
Solution and Explanation
Step 1: Match the eponym to the clinical entity. Tom Smith disease is a historically named infective arthritis, and the key word to recall is that it affects the hip of an infant.
Step 2: It is a pyogenic septic arthritis of the infant hip with an acute course, rapid pus formation and spontaneous or surgical drainage, healing with a destroyed joint. A positive telescope test and a hip that mimics congenital dislocation are characteristic. Therefore it is septic arthritis of infancy, option C.
Step 3: Eliminate the distractors. Gonococcal arthritis is an adult STI complication; smallpox arthritis is viral; chronic pyogenic arthritis is a long-standing form, none of which captures the infantile hip sepsis that defines Tom Smith arthritis.
\[\boxed{\text{Septic arthritis of infancy}}\]
Step 2: It is a pyogenic septic arthritis of the infant hip with an acute course, rapid pus formation and spontaneous or surgical drainage, healing with a destroyed joint. A positive telescope test and a hip that mimics congenital dislocation are characteristic. Therefore it is septic arthritis of infancy, option C.
Step 3: Eliminate the distractors. Gonococcal arthritis is an adult STI complication; smallpox arthritis is viral; chronic pyogenic arthritis is a long-standing form, none of which captures the infantile hip sepsis that defines Tom Smith arthritis.
\[\boxed{\text{Septic arthritis of infancy}}\]
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