reactive arthritis

noun

: an inflammatory arthritis that develops following a bacterial infection (as with chlamydia, shigella, or salmonella), is characterized by pain, swelling, and stiffness of joints (as of the knees or ankles), may be accompanied by inflammation of the eyelids, skin, or urinary tract, and typically lasts one year or less but may become chronic

Doctors have given him cortisone shots and steroids to help with the lingering pain in his right knee, part of a condition known as reactive arthritis often associated with severe salmonella infections.

—Kimberly Kindy and Brady Dennis

Examples of reactive arthritis in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Even otherwise healthy people, Sears said, can occasionally develop complications beyond stomach discomfort, including reactive arthritis. —Rachel Gutman, The Atlantic, 29 Dec. 2021

Other types of spondyloarthritis include: psoriatic arthritis, reactive arthritis, enteropathic arthritis, and undifferentiated spondyloarthritis. —Sarah Bradley, Health.com, 13 Sep. 2021

While most recover completely, some people can suffer from long-term effects such as reactive arthritis, which is joint pain and swelling caused by infection. —Kristine Phillips, chicagotribune.com, 16 May 2018

Word History

First Known Use

1973, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

reactive arthritis

noun

: an inflammatory arthritis that develops following a bacterial infection (as with chlamydia, shigella, or salmonella), is characterized by pain, swelling, and stiffness of joints (as of the knees or ankles), may be accompanied by inflammation of the eyelids, skin, or urinary tract, and typically lasts one year or less but may become chronic

The asymmetric involvement of the wrist and ankle, along with the presence of warm, swollen knees, could be consistent with a reactive arthritis; however, there was no antecedent infectious illness.

—Abraham B. Schwarzberg et al., The New England Journal of Medicine