ACUTE OSTEOMYELITIS IN CHILDREN: A 12-YEAR CASE REVIEW

Acute osteomyelitis is a rare but important infection because of its severity or its complications or sequelae. In early stages it can be difficult to recognize.We review the literature and our series of the last 12 years in order to adapt the diagnosis and treatment of this disease.Retrospective January 2003 to March 2015, with a total of 44 patients. Demographic, clinical, diagnostic and therapeutic variables, as well as monitoring and evolution are collected.The mean age was 98 months (range 13–164 months); only 5 patients were younger than 5 years (25%). The male/female ratio resulted 17/7.Localization, 75% was in the lower extremities and 20% had pelvic disease. There was history of trauma in 33% of cases and clear skin entrance door in 33% of cases.As for the clinic, the pain was constant (100% of cases) and fever occurred in 85% of patients (mean time before the diagnosis 4.3 days).The complications encountered 4 patients jurisdiction as abscess (16%), and 3 associated with arthritis (12%).Analytic...