Osteomyelitis Treatment

Osteomyelitis is an infection of the bone that not too long ago was an incurable condition. Currently, osteomyelitis remains a serious condition but one that can be treated successfully. Treatment will depend in part on what bone is infected and whether the osteomyelitis is of an acute or chronic nature.

Basics

• Chronic osteomyelitis is treated with surgery and antibiotics. Antibiotics alone may successfully treat acute osteomyelitis in children or osteomyelitis of the vertebrae.

Antibiotics

• Antibiotics are a line of defense against the infecting organisms, most often bacteria. The antibiotics may be administered intravenously or orally. Duration of antibiotic therapy may extend 4 to 6 weeks or longer. In some cases, chronic osteomyelitis requires antibiotic therapy throughout your lifetime.

Preparation

• When the doctor suspects chronic osteomyelitis, a bone biopsy or removal of a piece of bone during surgery will be done so that the infecting organism can be properly identified and the best antibiotic treatment regimen determined.

Surgery

• Different types of surgery are performed, depending on the site of bone infection and other factors. At times, the surgeon may have to perform more than one of these procedures to fully eliminate the injured tissue.

  During drainage, the area of tissue around the infected bone will be opened so that pus or other fluids as a result of the infection can be drained away.

  During debridement, surgical remove of the damaged bone tissue, usually extending slightly into the health bone tissue to ensure all infected tissue has been removed.

  The space left by the debridement procedure may receive a graft of tissue from another part of your body. Other times, temporary fillers are used to fill the space left until you are healthy enough to undergo a graft at a later time. This is done to promote healing of the bone tissue and renewed blood flow.

When Surgery Isn't Possible

• Not all people who would benefit from surgical treatment of osteomyelitis are healthy enough to undergo the surgery and recovery period. Physicians treat these situations with long-term antibiotic therapy, not as a cure but to keep the infection suppressed.

Potential

• For those people whose condition requires surgery but are unable to tolerate the surgery, there is a possibility that amputation of part or all of the affected limb may be required. Diabetics who acquire osteomyelitis are also at increased risk of need for an amputation due to the poor healing tendencies of diabetes.

  Osteomyelitis that develops around a surgically placed prosthesis holds a guarded prognosis, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center.

Expert Insight

• The more quickly a diagnosis of osteomyelitis is able to be made, the more likely treatment will be successful in eliminating the infection and decreases the likelihood that an amputation of a limb will be necessary.