The value of ultrasound and aspiration in differentiating vaso-occlusive crisis and osteomyelitis in sickle cell disease patients.

We have studied 50 patients with sickle cell disease who presented with musculoskeletal pain over a 2-year period to assess the use of ultrasound in differentiating infection from infarction. All the patients were evaluated by ultrasound. Five had soft tissue oedema and no fluid collection adjacent to the bone. Forty-five had a subperiosteal fluid collection. Twelve patients whose collections were not aspirated were diagnosed according to clinical evaluation. The remaining 33 patients underwent aspiration under ultrasound guidance to distinguish between an infection and infarction. Twenty-three of these were diagnosed as osteomyelitis and 10 as vaso-occlusive crises. In 21 out of the 23 infected cases, the fluid collection was greater than 10 mm at its thickest point perpendicular to the bone surface and all those with infarction had fluid less than 10 mm thickness. Aspiration under ultrasound guidance is a useful method to differentiate the two clinical entities. In patients suffering from osteomyelitis, identification of the organisms guides antibiotic administration. Needle decompression can help to relieve pain in osteomyelitis and vaso-occlusive crisis.

Anterior disc protrusion as a cause for abdominal symptoms in childhood discitis. A case report.

STUDY DESIGN: A case report on infectious spondylitis in a child who reported abdominal pain and whose magnetic resonance image revealed anterior herniation of disc space contents. OBJECTIVES: To correlate the direction of disc protrusion in infectious spondylitis with clinical manifestations. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Previous studies have correlated posterior protrusion of disc space contents in infectious spondylitis with a clinical presentation of back pain, paravertebral muscle spasm, hamstrings tightness, and radiculopathy. None has connected anterior herniation of disc phlegmon with abdominal pain. METHODS: In addition to plain radiography and bone scintigraphy, magnetic resonance imaging was used to confirm the diagnosis of infectious spondylitis in a 6-year-old child with abdominal pain. Regular review for 1 year included repeat magnetic resonance imaging at 3 months. RESULTS: Initial magnetic resonance imaging revealed characteristic changes associated with infectious spondylitis throughout the L5-S1 vertebra-disc-vertebra unit and anterior protrusion of the disc material and phlegmon. Magnetic resonance imaging at follow-up examination 3 months later demonstrated complete resolution of the disc herniation. CONCLUSION: Future magnetic resonance imaging studies should correlate direction of disc herniation with age and symptomatology to validate or improve classifications of infectious spondylitis, which presently include only the last two parameters.

Fracture of the upper radius with ipsilateral dislocations of the elbow and superior radio-ulnar joints. A case report.

We report the rare combination of a closed fracture of the upper third of the radius with ipsilateral posterior dislocation of the elbow joint and disruption of the superior radio-ulnar joint. Although in the Bado classification there is a fourth type that describes fractures of both radius and ulna with dislocation of the superior radio-ulnar joint, it does not include the injury we report. We review of the literature and put forward an extension of Bado's classification so that fractures of either, or both, the radius and ulna associated with pericubital dislocations will be included.

Two parallel linear densities on lateral radiographs of the lumbosacral spine: neither iliopectineal lines nor basis ossis sacri.

Two parallel radiodense lines are constantly seen on lateral radiographs of the lumbosacral spine. Whether they originate from the pelvis or sacrum is unclear. Using metallic wire markers, we performed a radiographic investigation on bony skeletons to define their origins and anatomical locations. Our study demonstrates that each arises from the sharp, well-defined bony ridge which forms the anterosuperior boundary of the auricular surface for articulation with the sacrum on either side. Each ridge lies along the medial border of the iliac fossa and represents an increase in compact bone in response to weight transmission. These lines have useful applications for they provide fixed radiographic landmarks on the bony pelvis for certain angular measurements in orthopaedics.