Osteomyelitis Flashcards
What is the definition of osteomyelitis?
Acute inflammation of the bone caused by a bacterial infection.
Where does osteomyelitis commonly occur in children?
- arms, legs, hips, shoulders, wrists
Where does osteomyelitis commonly occur in adults?
- spine, feet, pelvis
What are the most common causes of osteomyelitis?
- blood borne infection secondary to respiratory/renal/UTI
- cellulitis
- open wound over a bone
What are the predisposing factors for osteomyelitis?
- PVD
- Peripheral Neuropathy
- Diabetes
- Open #
- Surgery/injection
- Orthopaedic/dental
- Immuno-suppressed
What are the signs and symptoms of osteomyelitis?
- fever/irritability/fatigue
- nausea
- tenderness/swelling
- loss of ROM if near a joint
Treatment for osteomyelitis is based on…
- causative agent/bacteria
- route by which infection reached the bone
- duration of infection
- local and systemic factors
What is the pathogenesis of osteomyelitis?
Bacteria hides in osteoblasts - secretes pus - spreads to vascular channels - impairs blood flow - acute becomes chronic infection - ischaemic necrosis of bone (no living osteocytes)
What are the types of osteomyelitis?
- Acute hematogenous
- Secondary osteomyelitis
- Sub-acute
- Chronic development
What is acute hematogenous osteomyelitis?
- infection arises in blood
- predominantly in children
- commonly in metaphysis of long bones
- commonly in the spine in adults and in IV drug users
- usually history of blunt trauma that has created a haematoma
What are the symptoms of acute hematogenous osteomyelitis?
- fever
- chills
- localized pain/tenderness
- decreased ROM/ability to WB
- erythema
What is secondary contiguous osteomyelitis?
- secondary to contiguous infection
- common in adults
- usually secondary to an open wound
- other causes include bites, open #, surgical procedures or foreign bodies
- diagnosis not usually made until chronic infection present and sinus present
Risk of chronic osteomyelitis is increased in those with…
- PVD
- Diabetes
- decreased neurovasc status
- infection
- poor healing due to poor tissue perfusion
- frequent trauma due to neuropathy
How is osteomyelitis diagnosed?
- PROBE TO BONE
- clinical findings (subjective and objective)
- lab tests
- x-rays, MRI and CT
- histopathologic and microbiologic assessment (GOLD STANDARD)
What is chronic suppurative osteomyelitis?
- a complication of chronic osteomyelitis
- the necrotic bone forms a sequestrum of dead bone that spurs on the infection
- multiple sinuses can occur
Is acute hematogenous osteomyelitis polymicrobial?
No, it is usually infected by a single organism. Most common is staph aureus. Secondary contiguous infection is more likely to be polymicrobial.