Diagnosis and management of osteomyelitis

• Main Authors: Gunawan Gunawan, Bambang Setiyohadi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Indonesia Rheumatology Association 2018-02-01
• Series: Indonesian Journal of Rheumatology
• Online Access: https://journalrheumatology.or.id/index.php/ijr/article/view/76

Osteomyelitis is an infection of the bone that causes bone destruction and formation of new bone as the result of the infl ammatory process. Proper diagnosis in osteomyelitis is important since it determines the decision-making in the management of the disease: whether to perform aggressive treatments or administration of long-term antibiotic treatment. Imaging techniques play an important role in the diagnosis of osteomyelitis, but their results should be interpreted with care as they have a wide range of sensitivity and specifi city. A combination of imaging techniques could improve their sensitivity and specifi city. Conventional radiography is an affordable and widely available technique, and has been proven to be useful in diagnosing and excluding the differential diagnosesof osteomyelitis. Surgical intervention to remove necrotic tissues and administration of antibiotics to eradicate pathogens are necessary in the anagement of osteomyelitis. Several antibiotics such as quinolones,rifampin, and clindamycin have been proven to havegood penetration into bone.