Clinical characteristics and treatment of clavicular osteomyelitis: a systematic review with pooled analysis of 294 reported cases

Background It is usually difficult to diagnose clavicular osteomyelitis (OM), and treatment is delayed because of its rarity. This study aimed to summarize clinical characteristics and treatment of this disease. Methods We searched the PubMed and Embase databases to identify English studies that reported on clavicular OM from January 1980 through December 2016. Effective data were pooled for analysis. Results In total, 111 studies comprising 294 cases (bacterial OM, 146; nonbacterial OM, 148) were included, with a sex ratio of 1.89:1 indicating female predilection. Overall, the median age at diagnosis was 16 years. The acute to chronic phase ratio was 0.30, with a median symptom duration of 4 months. The most frequently reported symptom was pain (192 cases), followed by swelling (151 cases) and fever (52 cases). Altogether, 86.94% cases of single-site involvement were reported, with the medial side being the most common site (69.95%). The erythrocyte sedimentation rate achieved the highest positive rate (74.44%) before treatment. The total positive rate of culture for bacterial OM was 81.82%, with Staphylococcus aureus being the most frequently detected pathogen (44.70%). The average cure rate was 83.52%, with no significant difference between surgical (89.70%) and nonsurgical (79.63%) cases ( P = .079). Conclusions Clavicular OM, predominant in female patients and young people, usually occurred at a chronic stage. Pain was the most frequent symptom, with the medial side being the most involved site. The erythrocyte sedimentation rate may be a helpful indicator for diagnosis. Regardless of surgery or nonsurgery, most patients achieved a favorable prognosis.