Osteomyelitis and Cellulitis

Complex foot infections involving bone and soft tissue in patients with co-morbidities such as diabetes and peripheral arterial disease (PAD) are a cause of significant hospital admission. They are associated with substantial economic costs to health services worldwide. Historically, severe foot infection has been treated with surgical debridement and prolonged courses of systemic antibiotics. Prolonged systemic antibiotic use increases the risk of drug side effects, antimicrobial resistance and Clostridium difficile infection...

OBJECTIVE: Diagnosing bone infection in the diabetic foot is challenging and often requires several diagnostic procedures, including advanced imaging. We compared the diagnostic performances of MRI, radiolabeled white blood cell (WBC) scintigraphy (either with 99m Tc-hexamethylpropyleneamineoxime [HMPAO] or 111 In-oxine), and [18 F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18 F-FDG-PET)/computed tomography. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We searched Medline and Embase as of August 2016 for studies of diagnostic tests on patients known or suspected to have diabetes and a foot infection...

BACKGROUND: We provide evidence to revise the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) diabetic foot infection classification by adding a separate tier for osteomyelitis and evaluating if moderate and severe infection criteria improve the classification's ability to direct therapy and determine outcomes. METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated 294 patients with moderate and severe infections. Osteomyelitis was confirmed by bone culture or histopathology. Soft tissue infection (STI) was based on negative bone culture, magnetic resonance imaging, or single-photon emission computed tomography...

Fungal osteomyelitis (OM) is relatively rare. There is scarce literature discussing fungal OM in diabetic foot infections (DFIs). This case series explores the clinical characteristics of patients treated at a large tertiary academic center for DFI and found to have a causative agent of fungal origin in their bone on surgical intervention. Between July 2017 and March 2018, a prospective longitudinal analysis was performed of patients with diabetes admitted to our institution who underwent operative management of OM...

Invasive fungal and fungal-like infections contribute to substantial morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised individuals. The incidence of these infections is increasing-largely because of rising numbers of immunocompromised patients, including those with neutropenia, human immunodeficiency virus, chronic immunosuppression, indwelling prostheses, burns, and diabetes mellitus, and those taking broad-spectrum antibiotics. Invasive fungal pathogens include primary mycotic organisms such as Histoplasma capsulatum, Coccidioides immitis, Blastomyces dermatitidis, and Paracoccidioides brasiliensis, which are true pathogens and inherently virulent...

Calcaneal osteomyelitis is a complicated clinical scenario, which is often very difficult to treat. It can occur in individuals of any age who are injured or immunocompromised, and once diagnosed, aggressive management should be initiated. Treatment ranges from antibiotics alone to radical debridement or amputation. If there is a delay in both diagnosis and treatment, calcaneal osteomyelitis can be limb threatening or even life threatening.

Introduction: Calcaneal osteomyelitis is an uncommon and challenging condition. In this systematic review we aim to analyse the outcomes from concomitant use of bone debridement and soft tissue management for patients diagnosed with calcaneal osteomyelitis. Materials & Methods: A complete computerised and comprehensive literature search of Pubmed and Cochrane database was undertaken from January 2000 to October 2018. During the review, studies were screened for information about the surgical and antimicrobial treatment, the complications, the reinfection rate and the functional outcome of patients with calcaneal osteomyelitis...

We report a case of chronic calcaneal osteomyelitis in a diabetic patient who was successfully treated with radical debridement and gentamycin-impregnated calcium phosphate cement. At 1.5-year follow-up, the patient could walk without any assistance. Calcium phosphate cement is an effective local antibiotic delivery system and a biocompatible material for filling the debrided space to facilitate bone formation.

BACKGROUND: Surgical procedures for calcaneal osteomyelitis are partial calcanectomy (PC), total calcanectomy (TC), and below-knee amputation (BKA). With calcaneal osteomyelitis, limb-saving surgery was described to have secondary BKA rates of 4% to 20%, while secondary amputation rates after BKA are unknown. The aim of this study was to describe and compare overall revision and secondary amputation rates for each surgical option in our institution's cohort and to identify risk factors for secondary amputation...

The elution of antibiotics from antibiotic-impregnated polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) beads was measured in mongrel dogs. The antibiotics, used in mixture with Simplex cement, included cefazolin (Ancef; 4.5 g/40 g cement powder), ciprofloxacin (Cipro; 6 g/40 g powder), clindamycin (Cleocin; 6 g/40 g powder), ticarcillin (Ticar; 12 g/40 g powder), tobramycin (Nebcin; 9.8 g/40 g powder), and vancomycin (Vancocin; 4 g/40 g powder). After a pneumatic drill was used to dredge a trough in the tibia, five beads were implanted...

BACKGROUND: Chronic osteomyelitis necessities appropriate infected bone and soft tissue excision. The authors describe the Silo surgical technique for the treatment of calcaneal osteomyelitis using a new antibiotic-loaded absorbable calcium sulphate/hydroxyapatite biocomposite. METHODS: The Silo method involves debridement of the dead bone and local delivery of antibiotic in drilled tunnels using the biocomposite. It is combined with multiple sampling and culture-specific systemic antibiotic treatment guided by a multidisciplinary team...

OBJECTIVE: Avascular necrosis of bone (AVN) and osteoarticular infection share similar risk factors in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients. However, their coincidental development in SLE has rarely been described. We describe four cases of AVN complicated by Staphylococcus aureus infection in SLE. METHODS: Patients were identified by retrospectively reviewing an SLE cohort followed between 1979 and 2003. A review of the literature from 1960 until 2003 was also done...

When osteomyelitis occurs in the infected foot, cement spacers have been used as a limb salvage tool. The aim of the present study was to assess the longevity and outcomes in high-risk, low-demand patients who have undergone resection of bone and subsequent placement of permanent antibiotic-eluting cement spacers in the foot. A retrospective review case series of 30 patients who had undergone placement of a permanent antibiotic-eluting cement spacer in the foot were evaluated for retention, spacer exchange, removal, amputation, and functional status...

The clinical diagnosis of diabetes-related osteomyelitis relies on the identification and characterization of an associated foot ulcer, a method that is often unreliable. Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is the modality of choice for imaging evaluation of pedal osteomyelitis. Because MR imaging allows the extent of osseous and soft-tissue infection to be mapped preoperatively, its use may limit the extent of resection. At MR imaging, the simplest method to determine whether osteomyelitis is present is to follow the path of an ulcer or sinus tract to the bone and evaluate the signal intensity of the bone marrow...

Partial calcanectomy (PC) is an established limb salvage procedure for treatment of deep heel ulceration with concomitant calcaneal osteomyelitis. The purpose of this study is to determine if a relationship exists between the amount of calcaneus removed during PC and the resulting lower extremity function and limb salvage outcomes. Consecutive PC patients were retrospectively divided into two cohorts defined by the amount of calcaneus resected before wound closure: patients in cohort 1 retained = 50% of calcaneus, while patients in cohort 2 underwent resection of >50% of the calcaneus...

BACKGROUND: Infections in total ankle arthroplasty are a serious complication, about which there is little information in the current literature. METHODS: This is a retrospective review of infected total ankle arthroplasty at one institution from 1995 to 2012. Risk factors were compared between patients with infected total ankle arthroplasty and age- and sex-matched patients who did not have infection (control patients) within the same time period. RESULTS: 966 patients with total ankle arthroplasty were reviewed, and 29 cases of infected total ankle arthroplasty (3...

Traditional incision techniques for midfoot amputation might not provide immediate soft tissue coverage of the underlying metatarsal and tarsal bones in the presence of a large plantar soft tissue defect. Patients undergoing transmetatarsal and Lisfranc amputation frequently have compromised plantar tissue in association with neuropathic ulcers, forefoot gangrene, and infection, necessitating wide resection as a part of the amputation procedure. Open amputation will routinely be performed under these circumstances, although secondary healing could be compromised owing to residual bone exposure...

Background: Regarding antibiotic-loaded cements, there is an abundant amount of literature regarding the antibacterial in vitro inhibitory and clinical applications for the treatment of osteomyelitis. The opposite can be said about literature regarding in vitro antifungal-loaded cement drug delivery for the treatment of fungal osteomyelitis. Methods: Aspergillus fumigatus and Candida (ATCC 10231; ATCC, Manassas, Virginia) were plated on antibiotic/antifungal-free plates. Voriconazole- and amphotericin B-impregnated calcium sulfate and hydroxyapatite (HA) disks, calcium sulfate + HA control disks, and control polymethylmethacrylate disks were laid separately onto plates separately inoculated with Aspergillus and Candida spp...

Tuberculosis is one of the leading causes of death worldwide amongst curable diseases. It is estimated that one-third of the world's population has been diagnosed with tuberculosis infection [1]. The prevalence is on the rise with an estimated 9.4 million new cases per year worldwide [1]. Tuberculosis most commonly presents with pulmonary involvement. However, approximately 23-30% of patients found to be infected with tuberculosis have extrapulmonary symptoms [2]. Of those, only 1-3% have been found to have osseous disease...

BACKGROUND: The clinical diagnosis of osteomyelitis is difficult because of neuropathy, vascular disease, and immunodeficiency; also, with no established consensus on the diagnosis of foot osteomyelitis, the reported efficacy of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in detecting osteomyelitis and distinguishing it from reactive bone marrow edema is unclear. Herein, we describe a retrospective study on the efficacy of MRI for decision-making accuracy in diagnosing osteomyelitis in diabetic foot ulcers...