Cat-scratch disease: orthopaedic presentation

Abstract

Although cat-scratch disease is not uncommonly treated by pediatricians, it is rarely seen by orthopaedists. In this review of cat-scratch disease, two cases with orthopaedic manifestations are high-lighted. One patient had a positive bone scan in the distal humerus that simulated osteomyelitis on presentation. The second patient presented with a rapidly enlarging soft-tissue mass in the arm that resembled a soft-tissue sarcoma. The diagnosis of cat-scratch disease eventually was made late in the course of management in both cases. Both patients underwent surgical drainage and evacuation of the suppurated lymph node and recovered without sequelae.