[Pathogenetic characteristics of experimental traumatic osteomyelitis (immunological and bacteriological aspects)]

The model of osteomyelitis was created in dogs by the method of Ilizarov, Stetsula and Kramer; as a result, a typical picture of the disease was obtained. The maximum survival time of the animals was 1 year. The inoculation of the infective agent into the osteotomy zone at an early period (1 hour after the operation) resulted in the complete suppression of the phagocytic activity of leukocytes and in the rapid rise of the lysozyme level. The staphylococcal strain causing the disease could be detected in the blood during 19 weeks, and in discharges from wounds and fistulas during 14 weeks of observation. The failure of the phagocytic activity of leukocytes at the initial stage resulted seemingly in the appearance and further development of the infectious process. The humoral nonspecific immunity factors under the study (complement and lysozyme) seemed to play no essential role at the initial stage. In the course of traumatic osteomyelitis at a later stage the specific factor, staphylococcal antitoxin, acquired the primary importance.