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CD-ROM Today (UK) (Spanish) 15
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02046.txt
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1994-01-17
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$Unique_ID{BRK02046}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{What to Expect from Osteomyelitis}
$Subject{osteomyelitis bone marrow infection bones infection blood bacteria
fungi fungus femur tibia humerus diabetics diabetes sinus infections dental
infection staphylococcus streptococci hemophilus influenzae penicillin
antibiotic antibiotics sequestra}
$Volume{}
$Log{}
Copyright (c) 1993 Tribune Media Services, Inc.
What to Expect from Osteomyelitis
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QUESTION: Recently I was diagnosed as having osteomyelitis. Research in
local libraries hasn't yielded much information. I would appreciate knowing
what to expect as time goes on. I am currently taking penicillin 4 times a
day. Thank you for any help you can provide.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ANSWER: If we analyze the meaning of the word "osteomyelitis", by looking at
the Greek words from which it was formed, we can obtain a pretty accurate
definition of this condition. "Osteo" means "bone", "myelos" indicates
"marrow", and "itis" indicates infection. Thus this is a condition where the
marrow of the bone is infected, usually by a bacteria, sometimes by fungi. It
can be difficult to establish the exact cause of the disease, and is often
difficult to treat. It usually develops in the long bones of the body, the
femur and the tibia in the legs and the humerus in the arms, and is more
common in children than adults. It is almost always located in bones that
have a good blood supply and a rich marrow. It can be caused by a local
infection of soft tissue that spreads to the bone, enter the bone directly
from open fractures due to accidents, or spread to the bone through the blood
stream from an infection in some distant site of the body. Osteomyelitis in
the legs in diabetics frequently comes from foot ulcers, and when
osteomyelitis appears in the skull, it is often starts as a sinus or dental
infection.
To properly treat the infection, it is important to identify the exact
bacteria or fungus that is the cause. In many cases it is but a single
organism, usually a staphylococcus, but streptococci and hemophilus influenzae
can also be found. In more complicated cases, there are several organisms
present at the same time, making the choice of a proper antibiotic quite
difficult. Penicillin in one of its forms is often the antibiotic of choice.
Treatment with antibiotics may continue for as long as four to six weeks, and
often the kind of antibiotic will be changed as the treatment progresses. The
development of new and very affective antibiotics have greatly improved the
prognosis of this infectious disease, with complete cures a general rule.
However, when it becomes a chronic condition, and succeeds in killing
fragments of bone tissue (called sequestra), surgery is needed to remove the
dead tissue and help in advancing the treatment.
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The material contained here is "FOR INFORMATION ONLY" and should not replace
the counsel and advice of your personal physician. Promptly consulting your
doctor is the best path to a quick and successful resolution of any medical
problem.