Antibiotic therapy
Chronic osteomyelitis is rarely cured by antibiotic therapy alone. Their role is twofold:
- to prevent the spread of infection to healthy bone
- to control acute flares of infection
Sensitivity determination of the pathogens is essential. It is also important that the drugs are non-toxic with long term use and that they penetrate bone well. Good examples are clindamycin and cephalosporins.
Note -repeated suboptimal antibiotic treatment without surgery increases microbial resistance and restricts the choice of effective antibiotics available following surgery.
Reference
- Colston J, Atkins B. Bone and joint infection. Clin Med (Lond). 2018 Mar;18(2):150-4.
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