[Toxic shock syndrome due to osteomyelitis]

An 11 3/4 year old girl contracted Toxic-Shock-Syndrome following osteomyelitis. The symptoms comprised a severe fall in blood-pressure with centralisation, petechiae and haematoma particularly in the lower extremities, hyperaemia of the oral mucosa and of the throat with profuse and unstaunchable bleeding in this area within in a short period of time. In order to stabilise the blood-pressure the patient had be given approx. 15 l colloidal solution (350 ml/kg) intravenously, mainly frozen-plasma. The risk of aggravation of a pulmonary failure along the lines of ARDS particularly due to the backward flow of the interstitial deposited fluid was avoided by the use of continuous veno-venous haemofiltration (CVVH).