Posttraumatic osteomyelitis

By definition osteomyelitis is a bacterial infection of bone and may lead to bone destruction (1). It may be acute or chronic and it is defined as hematogenous when it originates from a bacteremia and as contiguous focus when it originates from an infection in nearby tissue. In adults osteomyelitis is most often related to open fractures or to any surgical procedure affecting bone or its adjacent tissues. Traumatic contaminated wounds may also progress to deep infection and osteomyelitis. Especially diabetic patients with poor circulation are prone to that mechanism. Osteomyelitis associated with fractures can cause delayed union or non-union and complicate the treatment. According to the classification of Gustilo and Andersen the risk of a clinical infection in open fractures depends on the severity of the injury and ranges from 0% to 2% for type-I open fractures, 2% to 10% for type-II, and 10% to 50% for type-III. (2).