Anaerobic osteomyelitis

The prevalence and role of anaerobic bacteria in bone infection were investigated in this prospective study on 134 cases with pyogenic osteomyelitis. Specimens were inoculated immediately in the operating theatre or in the ward and incubated under aerobic and anaerobic conditions without using transport media. Anaerobic organisms were isolated from 39 of the 134 cases [29%] of all types of pyogenic osteomyelitis. The total number of aerobic and anaerobic isolates was 224, of which 50 were anaerobes [22%]. Syringe-aspirated specimens were better than swab specimens for the isolation of anaerobes. Anaerobes were mostly isolated from osteomyelitis cases of long duration