[Bone metastasis of a prostate tumor and osteosynthesis material. A case report]

The detection of metastatic deposits at the site of previous osteosynthesis is difficult. Bone imaging and scanning with technectium 99m are unhelpful in differentiating between osteomyelitis, Paget's disease and a bone metastasis. The authors present details of a patient who had undergone osteosynthesis for a fracture of the left tibia in 1983. In October 1989 signs of inflammatory change appeared at the site of the previous fracture. It was initially treated as if it were osteomyelitis, with curettage and insertion of gentamycin beads, although no organisms were grown. Eventually the patient was transferred to the author's hospital and further investigation revealed a carcinoma of the prostate. Histological examination of biopsy specimens from the left tibia confirmed the presence of a metastasis from this growth.