ABSTRACT

Virtually any part of the musculoskeletal system can get an infection, from the soft tissues to the bone to the joints to the spine. Magnetic resonance imaging is both sensitive and specific, so it can be extremely useful in both the diagnosis of early and the confirmation of late infection. The underlying bone becomes increasingly destroyed by the infection, and an abscess forms, often surrounding dead trabeculae and bone spicules. The bacterium found is usually a nonpurulent S. aureus or Streptococcus, although in approximately half of the cases, the pus is found to be sterile. The classical differential diagnosis of an epiphyseal lesion in a child is infection, eosinophilic granuloma, and chondroblastoma. Once recovered from the infection, the prognosis is of increasingly severe orthopedic problems, with premature fusion of the growth plate, angular deformities at the ends of the long bones, as well as premature arthritis.