In this playlist, you will undertake a review of different manifestations of osteomyelitis (bone infection) and septic arthritis (joint infection). The selected cases will include examples of pyogenic osteomyelitis (acute, subacute and chronic) and non-pyogenic infection (tuberculosis).
The key features to appreciate that suggest the possibility of osteomyelitis are:
- An aggressive pattern of bone destruction (except Brodie's abscess) (moth-eaten or permeative)
- An aggressive pattern of periosteal reaction (often laminated)
- Fascial plane blurring or obliteration (compare with tumours that displace fascial planes)
- Soft tissue swelling
For septic arthritis, look for a local site of involvement (it could show local extension into neighbouring tissues) that involves the joint space and the epiphyses articulating with that joint. You are looking for a "bone-joint-bone" pattern of involvement that may look like an inflammatory arthritis affecting a single joint.