CT detection of sacral osteomyelitis associated with pelvic abscesses

In three patients the diagnosis of sacral osteomyelitis was made when CT demonstrated intraosseous (two) and intraforaminal (one) gas. Two of the three patients also had radionuclide bone scans, one of which was unremarkable. In the other case, radionuclide scintigraphy greatly underestimated the extent of the disease process when compared with CT. All three patients had contiguous pelvic abscesses as a cause of the osteomyelitis. Although there was a high clinical suspicion for an intraabdominal process, the diagnosis of superimposed osteomyelitis of the sacrum was unsuspected. The detection of intraosseous gas is a pathognomonic, albeit uncommon, manifestation of osteomyelitis. Although the radionuclide bone scan is the method of choice for detecting osteomyelitis, CT should be used as a complementary study in certain patients.