Osteomyelitis
(Bone Infection)
What is osteomyelitis?
"Osteo-" means bone, and "-itis" means inflammation.
Osteomyelitis is the medical term for a bone infection.
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Bone is living tissue and can get infected like any other part of your body
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Infection gets into a bone through your blood or from nearby infected tissue or an open wound
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You may have pain in your bone, fever, and weight loss
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You'll need x-rays and maybe a CT or MRI
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You’ll need weeks of antibiotics and possibly surgery to treat osteomyelitis
With a bad infection, parts of the bone may die, which makes the infection harder to treat.
Sometimes the infection spreads out from your bone into nearby skin and muscle.
What causes osteomyelitis?
Usually bone infections are caused by bacteria that:
Less often the bacteria:
You're more likely to get osteomyelitis if you:
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Have other health problems, such as cancer, sickle cell disease, or a weak immune system
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Inject street drugs
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Are on kidney dialysis
