====== Osteomyelitis ======
(sometimes abbreviated to OM, and derived from Greek words osteon, meaning bone, myelo- meaning marrow, and -itis meaning inflammation) is infection and inflammation of the bone or bone marrow.

===== Classification =====


see [[Chronic osteomyelitis]]

It can be usefully sub classified on the basis of the causative organism (pyogenic bacteria or mycobacteria) and the route, duration and anatomic location of the infection.

see [[Skull osteomyelitis]]

see [[Skull base osteomyelitis]].

see [[Vertebral osteomyelitis]].

===== Diagnosis =====

[[Three phase bone scan]].

[[Gallium scan]].

===== Treatment =====
Often difficult to cure in the presence of [[fibrous dysplasia]]


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Of the 15,170 cases of bacteremia due to [[Staphylococcus aureus]] that occurred in [[Denmark]] between 1959 and 1988, we review 525 cases of acute hematogenous osteomyelitis and 185 cases of septic arthritis that developed subsequent to the bacteremia and 134 cases of contiguous osteomyelitis in which the bacteremia developed secondarily. The pattern of acute infections of bones and joints has changed over the three decades studied. The frequency of secondary bone or joint infections due to S. aureus bacteremia has changed, as have the phage-type pattern and antimicrobial resistance of the infective strains. The prevalence of hospital-acquired cases has increased and the age distribution of patients has changed, as is reflected in an increasing number of older patients. The localization of hematogenous osteomyelitis has shifted, and the vertebral column is now the most common site of infection. The rate of chronic cases of osteomyelitis that occur following acute hematogenous osteomyelitis has been reduced from 34% to 6%. The mortality associated with S. aureus bacteremic infections of bones or joints is low compared to that associated with other cases of S. aureus bacteremia
((Espersen F, Frimodt-Møller N, Thamdrup Rosdahl V, Skinhøj P, Bentzon MW.
Changing pattern of bone and joint infections due to Staphylococcus aureus: study
of cases of bacteremia in Denmark, 1959-1988. Rev Infect Dis. 1991
May-Jun;13(3):347-58. PubMed PMID: 1866535.
)).