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Antibiotic therapy

Last edited 15 Mar 2026

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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