Early Bone Ischemia in Pediatric Acute Hematogenous Osteomyelitis and its Association With Progression to Chronic Osteomyelitis: New Insights From Gadolinium-enhanced Subtraction MRI.

BACKGROUND

Acute hematogenous osteomyelitis (AHO), the most common osteoarticular infection in children, carries a significant risk for chronic complications. Predicting chronic complications early in the course of disease is challenging. The underlying pathogenesis of complications is not fully understood.

METHODS

Children who presented to Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat, Oman between January 2015 and April 2022 for AHO were identified by a search of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) records. Children between 1 month and 18 years of age who did not meet exclusion criteria, and whose MRI also included gadolinium-enhanced subtraction (GES) sequences were included in the analysis. Outcomes were compared between patients who showed early evidence of bone ischemia and those who did not.

RESULTS

The analysis included 11 children who had GES MRI sequences from among 18 AHO cases in total. Median age was 5 years (IQR, 4-9), and 82% were males. Median duration of symptoms at presentation was 5 days (IQR, 3-7). GES sequences showed early bone ischemia in 6 of 11 (55%) patients. Patients with early bone ischemia were treated with significantly longer durations of IV antibiotics (median 23 vs. 10 days, P = 0.017) and oral antibiotics (median 134 vs. 29 days, P = 0.004), and required more surgical debridements (median 3 vs. 0 debridements, P = 0.017). Chronic osteomyelitis only developed among patients with early bone ischemia (5/6 vs. 0/5, P = 0.015).

CONCLUSIONS

In pediatric AHO, GES MRI sequences revealed early bone ischemia in a significant proportion of patients. Early bone ischemia was strongly associated with progression to chronic osteomyelitis.