[Pyogenic sacroiliitis. Presentation of 10 cases]

We report the clinical, radiological and microbiological features of ten patients diagnosed of pyogenic sacroiliitis in an Internal Medicine Department during a 13 years period. Clinical signs and radiological or scintigraphical findings were present in every case. Staphylococcus aureus was isolated in blood cultures in eight cases. We remark mean age (26.2 years), male predominance and the high prevalence of intravenous drug abuse as the main epidemiological data in our patients. Onset was acute in 60% of the cases, and subacute in the others. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate and a high white blood cell count were uniformly elevated among laboratory tests. Initial roentgenograms were normal in 60%. Bone scans were the most sensitive diagnostic aid. All the patients were treated with intravenous cloxacilin between two and eight weeks; aminoglycosides were added in four patients. We have observed two cases of psoas abscesses that required surgical drainage.