Clinical Management of Primitive Bone and Joint Infections

Osteoarticular infections (OAI), which are often associated with bacteremia, seem to be increasing lately. A wide variety of OAI may be encountered in different locations: joint infection, prosthetic infection, osteomyelitis, and spondylodiscitis. Clinical symptoms and biological markers (mainly inflammatory syndrome) are important for positive diagnosis and may contribute to the etiological diagnosis. Acute infection is due to nonspecific bacterial or fungal agents. Chronic infections are caused by brucella or mycobacterium as well as some bacterial and fungal agents. Clinical symptoms, biological markers, and etiological diagnosis depend on the patient’s immune status. Staphylococcus is the most frequent pathogen in immunocompetent patient. Treatment depends on the causative organism. Antibiotics are used for bacterial infection. Specifics drugs are used for other etiologies. Duration of the treatment depends on the infection status: acute or chronic. A favorable outcome is usually obtained with appropriate treatment.