title: Laboratory monitoring in pediatric acute osteomyelitis and septic arthritis.
abstract: The purpose of the current study was to determine the usefulness of erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein in pediatric bone and joint infections treated with and without surgery. The medical records of 50 patients admitted for acute osteomyelitis, septic arthritis, or both were reviewed retrospectively. There were 22 patients with septic arthritis, 20 with osteomyelitis, and eight with osteomyelitis with adjacent septic arthritis. There were 25 patients each in the surgical and nonsurgical groups. There was a statistically significant difference between the two groups regarding mean days to peak and normalization of erythrocyte sedimentation rate values and normalization of C-reactive protein values. Statistically significant differences were revealed for the mean days to normalization of erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein values among the patients with a diagnosis of osteomyelitis, septic arthritis, or both. The mean days to peak and normalization for erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein were twice as long in the surgical group as compared with the nonsurgical group. Complete recovery was achieved by all patients. This information should help the clinician in the diagnosis and treatment of children having surgery for acute osteomyelitis and septic arthritis.
authors.affiliation: Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, LAC+USC Medical Center, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA. akhachat@hsc.usc.edu.
authors.forename: Armond G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Khachatourians
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Patzakis
authors.forename: Nikolaos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Roidis
authors.forename: Paul D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Holtom
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D001170:Arthritis, Infectious / Q000097:blood* / Q000628:therapy; D001799:Blood Sedimentation; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019411:Clinical Laboratory Techniques; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic; D010019:Osteomyelitis / Q000097:blood* / Q000628:therapy; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D002097:C-Reactive Protein