Osteomyelitis with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

We describe 10 patients with hospital-acquired osteomyelitis due to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. The patients were posttraumatic and eight had a foreign body in situ at the site of infection. Vancomycin therapy in association with radical debridement was followed by clinical and radiological cure in eight patients at 2-3.5 years follow-up, in two of whom a foreign body was left in situ. Only minor adverse effects of vancomycin therapy (one rash, two thrombophlebitis) were seen.