This condition, Transient Synovitis, features prominently in the differential diagnosis of septic arthritis of the hip. Patients present arrival at the same age and with a similar symptom complex (limp, inability to weight bear and hip pain). The hip is often held in a flexed, abducted and externally rotated position and the child will never be systemically toxic. If she markers are usually significantly less raced than in septic arthritis and, while ultrasound may reveal a intra-articular effusion, arthrocentesis confirms no evidence of bacteria or frank pus.
The diagnosis for Transient Synovitis may be confirmed with bone scan or MRI scan. Patients do not require antibiotic treatment and usually recover over a period of days or weeks. Recurrence is common.