Localization of osteomyelitis with 99mtechnetium sulphur colloid

Thirty-two patients with fractures of the limbs were studied 15-30 min following 99mtechnetium sulphur colloid injection. In 17 of the 19 patients where osteomyelitis was superimposed on the various fractures, significant uptake of sulphur colloid was noted at the fracture sites. The sensitivity for the test was 89.5%. In 12 of the 13 cases where osteomyelitis was absent, the sulphur colloid scan was negative giving a specificity of 92.3%. Hence a technetium sulphur colloid scan has shown to be a successful method for detecting osteomyelitis complicating a limb fracture.