GONORRHOEAL ARTHRITIS: A PROPOSED PLAN OF SULFANILAMIDE THERAPY

The introduction of sulfanilamide has revolutionized the treatment of all types of gonococcal infections. Prior to the advent of this remark-able drug, gonorrhoeal arthritis was treated in a great variety of ways, but, for the most part, the result-s were disappointing and unsatisfactory. Symptomatic therapy, including bed rest, sedatives, and fixation of the joints, was found to be of little value. Diathermy enjoyed a brief period of popularity, but later proved to be chiefly a supplementary rather than a specific measure. Aspiration and air injection of the joints seemed to hold greatest promise, but faded into the background after the introduc-tion of artificial-fever therapy. For a few years hyperpyrexia was ac-cepted almost universally as the procedure of choice and was acclaimed by some to be of even greater value than the discovery of the gonococcus by Neisser. Enthusiasm for this type of treatment has waned consider-ably ill many centers, because of serious complications and an occasional death. In a recent paper we have shown that intravenous mercuro