Acute hematogenous osteomyelitis in children.
We reviewed the cases of 60 children with acute osteomyelitis with an average follow-up of 34 months. All patients were treated initially with high-dose intravenous (i.v.) antibiotics. Eight patients did not respond to this treatment within 48 h and had surgical drainage. The remaining 52 patients were divided into two subgroups: (a) 35 patients received i.v. antibiotics for an average of 21 days; (b) 17 patients received i.v. antibiotics for an average of 8 days followed by 4 weeks of oral therapy with monitoring of serum bactericidal levels. The incidence of chronic infection (12% for the operatively treated group and 4% for the nonoperatively treated group) depended more on the time interval between the presentation of symptoms and the onset of treatment than it did on the route of antibiotic administration.
Division of Orthopaedic Surgery, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
P A
PA
Vaughan
N M
NM
Newman
M A
MA
Rosman
D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D010019:Osteomyelitis / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D018805:Sepsis / Q000150:complications*
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents