Osteomyelitis: a descriptive study

To analyze the incidence and clinical-microbiological characteristics of osteomyelitis (OM) in a tertiary Spanish hospital.

All cases diagnosed with OM between January 2007 and December 2010 were retrospectively reviewed. The variables examined include epidemiological characteristics, risk factors, affected bone, radiographic changes, histology, microbiological culture results, antibiotic treatment, and the need for surgery.

Sixty-three cases of OM were diagnosed. Twenty-six patients (41.3%) had acute OM whereas 37 patients (58.7%) were classified as chronic OM. OM may result from haematogenous or contiguous microbial seeding. In this group, 49 patients (77.8%) presented with OM secondary to a contiguous source of infection and 14 patients had hematogenous OM (22.2%). Staphylococcus aureus was the most commonly found microorganism.

OM mainly affected patients with risk factors related to the presence of vascular diseases. Antibiotic treatment must be guided by susceptibility patterns of individual microorganisms, although it must be performed together with surgery in most of the cases.