What is Osteomyelitis?
Osteomyelitis means infection of the bone or bone marrow; inflammation of the bone due to.jpg)
infection. Osteomyelitis sometimes occurs as a complication of injury or surgery.
Merck advises Osteomyelitis occurs most commonly in young children and in older people, but all age groups are at risk. Osteomyelitis is also more likely to occur in people with serious medical conditions.
There are three types of osteomyelitis:
- Acute osteomyelitis - the infection develops within two weeks of an injury, initial infection, or the start of an underlying disease.
- Sub-acute osteomyelitis - the infection develops within one or two months of an injury, initial infection, or the start of an underlying disease.
- Chronic osteomyelitis - the bone infection starts at least two months after an injury, initial infection, or the start of an underlying disease.
Infections can reach a bone by traveling through your bloodstream or spreading from nearby tissue. Infections can also begin in the bone itself if trauma exposes your bone to germs. Bone infections commonly affect the long bones of your body, such as your leg bones and upper arm bone, as well as your spine and pelvis.
The symptoms are pain. Doctors treat chronic osteomyelitis with surgery and antibiotics. In acute osteomyelitis in children or vertebral osteomyelitis, surgery isn't always necessary. Once considered incurable, osteomyelitis can be successfully treated today. Still, osteomyelitis is a serious condition, requiring aggressive treatment to prevent spread of your infection and to save the affected bone.
