Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 May 20;97(10):837-45.
doi: 10.2106/JBJS.N.01350.

Trends in the epidemiology of osteomyelitis: a population-based study, 1969 to 2009

Hilal Maradit Kremers  1 , Macaulay E Nwojo  2 , Jeanine E Ransom  1 , Christina M Wood-Wentz  1 , L Joseph Melton 3rd  1 , Paul M Huddleston 3rd  1
Affiliations

Trends in the epidemiology of osteomyelitis: a population-based study, 1969 to 2009

Hilal Maradit Kremers et al. J Bone Joint Surg Am. .

Abstract

Background: The epidemiology of osteomyelitis in the United States is largely unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine long-term secular trends in the incidence of osteomyelitis in a population-based setting.

Methods: The study population comprised 760 incident cases of osteomyelitis first diagnosed between January 1, 1969, and December 31, 2009, among residents of Olmsted County, Minnesota. The complete medical records for each potential subject were reviewed to confirm the osteomyelitis diagnosis and to extract details on anatomical sites, infecting organisms, etiological risk factors, and outcomes.

Results: The overall age and sex-adjusted annual incidence of osteomyelitis was 21.8 cases per 100,000 person-years. The annual incidence was higher for men than for women and increased with age (p < 0.001). Rates increased with the calendar year (p < 0.001) from 11.4 cases per 100,000 person-years in the period from 1969 to 1979 to 24.4 per 100,000 person-years in the period from 2000 to 2009. The incidence remained relatively stable among children and young adults but almost tripled among individuals older than sixty years; this was partly driven by a significant increase in diabetes-related osteomyelitis from 2.3 cases per 100,000 person-years in the period from 1969 to 1979 to 7.6 cases per 100,000 person-years in the period from 2000 to 2009 (p < 0.001). Forty-four percent of cases involved Staphylococcus aureus infections.

Conclusions: The reasons for the increase in osteomyelitis between 1969 and 2009 are unclear but could comprise a variety of factors, including changes in diagnosing patterns or increases in the prevalence of risk factors (e.g., diabetes) in this population.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1-A
Fig. 1-A
Diabetes mellitus-related osteomyelitis.
Fig. 1-B
Fig. 1-B
Hematogenous osteomyelitis.
Fig. 1-C
Fig. 1-C
Contiguous osteomyelitis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Berbari EF, Steckelberg JM, Osmon DR. Osteomyelitis. In: Mandell GL, Bennett JE, Dolin R, editors. Principles and practice of infectious diseases, 7th ed Philadelphia: Saunders Elsevier; 2009. p 1457-67.
    1. Lew DP, Waldvogel FA. Osteomyelitis. Lancet. 2004. July 24-30;364(9431):369-79. - PubMed
    1. Mader JT, Mohan D, Calhoun J. A practical guide to the diagnosis and management of bone and joint infections. Drugs. 1997. August;54(2):253-64. - PubMed
    1. Mader JT, Ortiz M, Calhoun JH. Update on the diagnosis and management of osteomyelitis. Clin Podiatr Med Surg. 1996. October;13(4):701-24. - PubMed
    1. Calhoun JH, Anger DM, Ledbetter BR, Cobos JA, Mader JT. The Ilizarov fixator and polymethylmethacrylate-antibiotic beads for the treatment of infected deformities. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 1993. October;295:13-22. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms