Acute bacterial osteomyelitis in children

Surgical Debridement for Acute and Chronic Osteomyelitis in Children

Background

Osteomyelitis is an infection of the bone that commonly occurs in pediatric populations. First-line treatment most often involves a course of antibiotics. In recent studies, surgical debridement, in addition to antibiotics, has been shown to provide positive clinical and functional outcomes in children. Debridement is most often indicated in patients with an abscess or in those who do not respond to empiric antibiotic therapy; however, there are limited video resources describing this technique in pediatric patients.

Description

The key steps of the procedure, which are demonstrated in the present video article, are (1) preoperative planning, (2) positioning, (3) subperiosteal exposure and debridement, (4) cortical window creation, (5) irrigation, (6) adjunctive treatment, (7) drain placement, (8) wound closure, (9) dressing and immobilization, and (10) wound check and drain removal.

Alternatives

Nonoperative treatment is usually indicated for acute osteomyelitis in which patients present with little to no necrotic tissue or abscess formation. In these cases, a course of broad-spectrum antibiotics may be sufficient for a cure.

Rationale

This procedure allows for the removal of necrotic bone and soft tissue, thus facilitating the recovery process. It also allows for the retrieval of tissue samples that may be used to guide selection of the appropriate antibiotic therapy. Surgical debridement is a safe and reliable technique that has been associated with positive long-term outcomes.

Expected Outcomes

We expect that some patients will require repeat surgical debridement procedures to decrease pathogen burden and prevent future complications. However, we expect that the majority of patients who undergo surgical debridement for uncomplicated osteomyelitis will recover full functionality of the affected limb with no associated long-term sequelae10.

Important Tips

Understand preoperative imaging to identify areas of infection, localize critical structures and the physis, and plan surgical approaches.Use extensile approaches and preserve vascularity during the approach.Perform subperiosteal dissection and create a cortical window to debride areas of infection, but avoid excessive periosteal stripping.Close the dead space and wound in a layered manner.

Acronyms and Abbreviations

MRI = magnetic resonance imagingK-wire = Kirschner wireMRSA = methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureusPDS = polydiaxonone.

Is Early Surgical Intervention Necessary for Acute Neonatal Humeral Epiphyseal Osteomyelitis: A Retrospective Study of 31 Patients

Objective: To review the treatment experience of neonatal humeral epiphyseal osteomyelitis retrospectively. Study design: Retrospective cohort study of infants with neonatal humeral epiphyseal osteomyelitis. Patients were divided into conservative group and surgical group, and the surgical group was subdivided into early and delayed surgical group. Results: In total, there were 7 patients in the conservative group and 24 in the surgical group. The length of hospital stay and intravenous course of antibiotic therapy were both significantly shorter in the surgical group (p < 0.001). The full recovery rate was also higher in the surgical group (83.3%) than the conservative group (14.3%) (p < 0.001). Early surgery group (n = 14) had an insignificantly higher positive rate of pus/aspirate culture and full recovery rate than delayed surgery group (n = 10). Conclusion: Surgical treatment for neonatal humeral epiphyseal osteomyelitis demonstrated significantly higher rates of positive culture for the pathogen, a shorter course of intravenous oral antibiotics, and lower incidence of growth abnormality than conservative treatment. In our institution, most of culture outcome Gram-positive bacteria, and early surgical treatment was recommended with better outcome than delayed surgical group. Empirical antibiotics should be tailored to the epidemiological characteristics of local virulent bacteria.

Osteomyelitis in Immunocompromised children and neonates, a case series

BACKGROUND

Osteomyelitis in immunocompromised children can present differently from immunocompetent children and can cause devastating sequelae if treated inadequately. We aim to review the aetiology, clinical profile, treatment and outcomes of immunocompromised children with osteomyelitis.

METHODS

Retrospective review of all immunocompromised children aged < 16 years and neonates admitted with osteomyelitis in our hospital between January 2000 and January 2017, and referred to the Paediatric Infectious Disease Service.

RESULTS

Fourteen patients were identified. There were 10 boys (71%), and the median age at admission was 70.5 months (inter-quartile range: 12.3-135.0 months). Causal organisms included, two were Staphylococcus aureus, two were Mycobacterium bovis (BCG), and one each was Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Burkholderia pseudomallei and Rhizopus sp. One patient had both Clostridium tertium and Clostridium difficile isolated. Treatment involved appropriate antimicrobials for a duration ranging from 6 weeks to 1 year, and surgery in 11 patients (79%). Wherever possible, the patients received treatment for their underlying immunodeficiency. For outcomes, only three patients (21%) recovered completely. Five patients (36%) had poor bone growth, one patient had recurrent discharge from the bone and one patient had palliative care for underlying osteosarcoma.

CONCLUSIONS

Although uncommon, osteomyelitis in immunocompromised children and neonates can be caused by unusual pathogens, and can occur with devastating effects. Treatment involves prolonged administration of antibiotics and surgery. Immune recovery also seems to be an important factor in bone healing.

Clinical Practice Guideline by the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society and the Infectious Diseases Society of America: 2021 Guideline on Diagnosis and Management of Acute Hematogenous Osteomyelitis in Pediatrics

This clinical practice guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of acute hematogenous osteomyelitis (AHO) in children was developed by a multidisciplinary panel representing Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (PIDS) and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA). This guideline is intended for use by healthcare professionals who care for children with AHO, including specialists in pediatric infectious diseases, orthopedics, emergency care physicians, hospitalists, and any clinicians and healthcare providers caring for these patients. The panel's recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of AHO are based upon evidence derived from topic-specific systematic literature reviews. Summarized below are the recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of AHO in children. The panel followed a systematic process used in the development of other IDSA and PIDS clinical practice guidelines, which included a standardized methodology for rating the certainty of the evidence and strength of recommendation using the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) approach. A detailed description of background, methods, evidence summary and rationale that support each recommendation, and knowledge gaps can be found online in the full text.

Clinical analysis of 17 cases of neonatal osteomyelitis: A retrospective study

Although acute osteomyelitis is rare in neonates, it might result in severe sequelae such as joint destruction and growth failure if it is not diagnosed and treated early. However, few studies have focused on the clinical features and treatment of this disease.A retrospective review of 17 cases of neonatal osteomyelitis, for which the patients underwent medical treatment alone or combined with surgery at the Children's Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine between January 2009 and September 2016, was conducted. Medical treatment included the use of antibiotics and supportive care. Surgery was performed in cases with subperiosteal abscess (>1 cm) or clinical deterioration despite antibiotic therapy.All of the patients (11 men and 6 women) were term neonates. The main complaints were redness or swelling around the affected bone and fever. The most common sites were the femur (29.4%) and humerus (23.5%). There were 14 (82.35%) cases with positive cultures: Staphylococcus accounted for 71.43% (n = 10), followed by Salmonella (n = 1), Streptococcus pneumoniae (n = 1), Klebsiella pneumoniae (n = 1), and Escherichia coli (n = 1). X-rays (n = 14), ultrasound (n = 6), computed tomography (CT) (n = 5), or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (n = 7) were performed. Three of 14 x-rays were not pathological at the onset of the disease, while the positive rate of MRI in detecting osteomyelitis was 100%. Eleven of 17 cases underwent surgical drainage, and higher white blood cell (WBC) counts were found in patients requiring surgery (P < .05). The prognosis for all patients was good without severe sequelae with a mean follow-up period of 49.47 ± 23.43 months.In conclusion, the prognosis of neonatal osteomyelitis with early active treatment is good. MRI is advocated for detecting early osteomyelitis. Additionally, neonates with higher WBC count together with osteomyelitis have an increased risk for surgery.

Association between oropharyngeal carriage of Kingella kingae and osteoarticular infection in young children: a case-control study

BACKGROUND

Kingella kingae has been increasingly identified in patients with osteoarticular infections. Our main objective was to evaluate the association between carriage of K. kingae in the oropharynx of preschool children and osteoarticular infections.

METHODS

We conducted this prospective case-control study in 2 tertiary care pediatric hospitals (Canada and Switzerland) between 2014 and 2016. Potential cases were children aged 6 to 48 months with a presumptive diagnosis of osteoarticular infection according to the treating emergency physician. Confirmed cases were those with diagnosis of osteomyelitis or septic arthritis proven by positive findings on technetium-labelled bone scan or magnetic resonance imaging or identification of a microorganism in joint aspirate or blood. For each case, we recruited 4 age-matched controls from among children presenting to the same emergency department for trauma. The independent variable was presence of oropharyngeal K. kingae DNA identified by a specific polymerase chain reaction assay. We determined the association between oropharyngeal carriage of K. kingae and definitive osteoarticular infection.

RESULTS

The parents of 77 children admitted for suspected osteoarticular infection and 286 controls were invited to participate and provided informed consent. We identified K. kingae in the oropharynx of 46 (71%) of 65 confirmed cases and 17 (6%) of 286 controls; these results yielded an odds ratio of 38.3 (95% confidence interval 18.5-79.1).

INTERPRETATION

Detection of oropharyngeal K. kingae was strongly associated with osteoarticular infection among children presenting with symptoms suggestive of such infection.