Osteomyelitis

Osteomyelitis – General Information

Osteomyelitis is a contagion of the osseous system and it can be induced by a diversity of situations and microbial factors such as:

• A contagion located in any other part of the body, more likely in the urinary tract as this kind can easily reach the blood and then spread to the bones
• An open trauma to the osseous system, more specifically an open lesion with the final part of the osseous tissue piercing the body covering.
• The existence of some bacteria in the blood and the possibility of further deposit of these in the bones. In this case, the bacteria will multiply and as it will grow, it will destroy the bone. Though, you should not worry too much as the bone is almost likely to recover.
• An unimportant lesion which can turn into a blood clot around the osseous tissues and finally into a severe infection
• A prolonged open trauma of the tissues which can expand to the surface of the bone and cause a severe infection.

Nowadays, Osteomyelitis touches about three of every 11,000 people. If the patient does not discover it in time and he does not start the treatment, the contagion can turn chronic and it can lead to a diminution of the blood supply in those specific bones. If this aggravates, then that specific osseous tissue can pall. Osteomyelitis affects young children as well as adults, but it is known to affect especially diabetics and people with an anemic immune system.  

Osteomyelitis – Symptoms

Osteomyelitis usually develops a slow progression of the indications and they depend on the type of disease. The direct type is, in most of the cases, more restricted, with more aggressive symptoms. The injuries of the arm and leg bones can cause pain in the infected tissues and fever. After a few days the patient can notice a change in what concerns the affected area: it will become warm, sore and probably swollen and they can experience pain when trying to move. These symptoms can then result in tiredness and a loss of weight. If the infection is located in the vertebrae system then the evolution is more gradually but it causes much more pain when touching that area. The sufferer will experience even a greater pain when moving and, in order to diminish the hurt he should rest and use analgesics. In this case, the fever is not present. If this disease appears as a result of a soft tissue infection, then that are of the osseous tissue becomes painful and it swells quickly. This kind of trauma does not lead to fever and the blood tests can be normal. A more severe problem is a previous case of this disease which was not treated efficiently. In this case, we can talk about chronic Osteomyelitis, a type which does not develop any symptoms for months or even years.
There are though some symptoms which develop in any of the cases presented above:

• Fatigue
• Malaise
• Irritability
• Tenderness

Osteomyelitis – Treatment

In order to diagnose Osteomyelitis, the patient must take some tests and a physical examination. During these actions, the doctor will search for symptoms and signs of bone tiredness and certain lesions of the soft tissues, as well as potentially redness and swelling o some areas. You should give a specific description of the symptoms and you should also inform the doctor about the medical history of your family. After these procedures, you will be prescribed one or more of these tests:

• Blood culture: this is used in order to discover possible bacteria. The blood will be placed in a special environment which allows bacteria to grow. While this happens, the specialists will try different agents in order to find the most efficient treatment.
• Blood tests: these are taken in order to discover the possible problems and possible infections. They also measure the level of the inflammation in our organic structure.
• Biopsy: a sample of the infected osseous system will be taken in order to detect any signs of an invasive organism.
• Needle aspiration: this test involves the removal of a sample of cells and fluid from the bony area or the vertebral space. This will then be evaluating in the laboratory.
• Bone scan: in this case, the patient will be administrated a small quantity of a radioactive material. If there is no infection, then the dose will spread uniformly, but if there is an infection the osseous tissue will absorb the substance. Then the doctor will scan the body and detect possible problems. 

After the patient takes one or more of these tests, the doctor will choose the most appropriate treatment to cure Osteomyelitis and to prevent it to turn into a chronic type. If such thing happens and the patient will develop chronic Osteomyelitis then he could become permanently affected.
In the case of an open trauma or an abscess, the doctor will probably choose to use needle aspiration which means that that area will be drained. This means that a needle will be introduced in the affected area and the substance will be removed.  Though, the first stage of treating Osteomyelitis is the administration of drugs and antibiotics, which help the body to eliminate the bacteria and prevent a further infection of the osseous system. The dosage and the type of medicines will be decided by the doctor according to the kind of Osteolyelitis which was detected. Usually, these antibiotics are administrated intravenously, but there are cases when they prove more efficient if given orally. In most of the cases, a single surgical procedure is enough to scrape out the infected bone and to establish the trauma. But, if the problem is located in the spinal area, the procedure is not started before the compression of the nerve roots or the spinal cord. With the adequate treatment, this disease is probably to cure efficiently, even though there are not very promising results in what concerns the chronic type. In the worst case, if the treatment administrated has no results, the only solution is amputating the affected bone.