title: Osteomyelitis: a descriptive study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To analyze the incidence and clinical-microbiological characteristics of osteomyelitis (OM) in a tertiary Spanish hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  All cases diagnosed with OM between January 2007 and December 2010 were retrospectively reviewed. The variables examined include epidemiological characteristics, risk factors, affected bone, radiographic changes, histology, microbiological culture results, antibiotic treatment, and the need for surgery.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty-three cases of OM were diagnosed. Twenty-six patients (41.3%) had acute OM whereas 37 patients (58.7%) were classified as chronic OM. OM may result from haematogenous or contiguous microbial seeding. In this group, 49 patients (77.8%) presented with OM secondary to a contiguous source of infection and 14 patients had hematogenous OM (22.2%). Staphylococcus aureus was the most commonly found microorganism.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  OM mainly affected patients with risk factors related to the presence of vascular diseases. Antibiotic treatment must be guided by susceptibility patterns of individual microorganisms, although it must be performed together with surgery in most of the cases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, IIS-Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Prieto-Pérez
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Microbiology, IIS-Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Ramón
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pérez-Tanoira
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, IIS-Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Elizabet
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Petkova-Saiz
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Microbiology, IIS-Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Concepción
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pérez-Jorge
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, IIS-Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lopez-Rodriguez
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, IIS-Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Beatriz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Alvarez-Alvarez
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, IIS-Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Polo-Sabau
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Microbiology, IIS-Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Jaime
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Esteban
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010019:Osteomyelitis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents
keywords: Antimicrobial therapy; Bone infection; Debridement; Osteomyelitis; Staphylococcus aureus