Chronic non-bacterial osteitis from the patient perspective: a health services research through data collected from patient conferences.

OBJECTIVE: Although chronic non-bacterial osteitis (CNO) is an ever-increasingly recognised illness in the paediatric community and the adult healthcare community, a study to assess diagnosing, treatment and the psychosocial aspect of CNO from a large population pool was not available. We aimed to investigate CNO from the patient perspective. DESIGN: Health services research, patient survey. SETTING: Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) Pediatric Rheumatology Department CNO Conferences held in June 2013 and June 2015. PARTICIPANTS: Using a patient survey developed by the LMU Pediatric Rheumatology Department, 105 patients from ages 5 to 63 years were assessed regarding CNO to include epidemiological data, medical history and treatment, initial symptoms, diagnostic procedures, current symptoms, associated diseases, current treating physicians, absences in school and work due to illness and the impact of illness on patient, family and friends. RESULTS: Active CNO was reported in 90% of patients present, with 73% being women and 27% being men. An overwhelming majority (70%) reported being diagnosed within 18 months of onset of symptoms; however, the initial diagnoses were wide-ranged to include malignancies in 36% to bacterial osteomyelitis in 30%, where the majority were treated with an antibiotic and/or were biopsied. When asked about the psychosocial aspect of this illness, 83% reported that non-bacterial osteitis (NBO) negatively impacted the family, 79% reported that NBO has negatively affected either school or work and 56% reported a negative impact on friendships. CONCLUSION: Delay of diagnosis, living with differential diagnoses like malignancies and finding specialists for medical care are a few examples of what leads patients into searching for more information. The negative impact on daily life including family relationships, friendships and work/school highlights a need for better psychosocial support such as guidance counselling or psychological support due to three-quarters of patients receiving no such said support.

Clinical course, complication rate and outcome of segmental resection and distraction osteogenesis after chronic tibial osteitis.

INTRODUCTION: Radical segmental resection and subsequent distraction osteogenesis are considered the gold standard in the treatment of chronic tibial osteitis. We investigated the clinical course of treatment, particularly with respect to patients' quality of life, and the complication rate associated with this technique. METHODS: In this prospective case series, 25 patients (22 men, 3 women, average age: 46 years) with chronic post-traumatic tibial osteitis were managed operatively from 2006 to 2009. Standardised treatment included bacterial eradication by segmental resection, bone transport using Ilizarov apparatus, and docking manoeuvre. The follow-up rates during bacterial eradication, bone transport, post docking, and complete osseous consolidation were 100% while follow-up two years after completed consolidation was 76%. The main outcome measurements consisted of the quality of life (Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36 score)) and the virtual analogue scale (VAS) of pain during the five stages of therapy. Additionally, all complications and difficulties were documented. RESULTS: The average defect size was 5.3 cm (range: 3-13). The healing index was 57 days per cm transport (range: 18-172). The overall treatment time averaged 93 weeks (range: 38-183). Patients suffered 22 minor and 13 major complications including one amputation. The average complication rate per patient consisted of 0.88 minor and 0.52 major complications. After the period of bone transport, the physical and mental component summary scores increased continuously. After completed consolidation, the average mental summary score was comparable to a normal collective. CONCLUSIONS: Distraction osteogenesis is challenging for both the patient and the surgeon. The arduous and demanding nature of the clinical course subjects the patient to considerable mental and physical stress. Thankfully, the average physical and mental status of health continues to improve during the clinical course of treatment. The 2-year success rate of the distraction osteogenesis in an infected tibia is 96%.

The impact of osteitis on disease severity measures and quality of life outcomes in chronic rhinosinusitis.

BACKGROUND: The significance of osteitis in the management of recalcitrant chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) has yet to be clearly understood and clinical outcomes data for these patients is lacking. Osteitis has been characterized by inflammatory infiltrate, osteoneogenesis, and bony sclerosis with remodeling. In this study we sought to determine if osteitis negatively impacts quality-of-life (QOL) or clinical outcomes following endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS). METHODS: A total of 190 adult patients with CRS were prospectively enrolled.Osteitis was characterized by quantifiable bony thickening on sinus computed tomography (CT). Baseline measures and postoperative outcomes were evaluated using endoscopy exam, olfactory testing, and 2 validated disease-specific QOL surveys: the Chronic Sinusitis Survey (CSS) and Rhinosinusitis Disability Index (RSDI). Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed to evaluate differences between patients with and without osteitis. RESULTS: Patients with osteitis (n = 79) had higher prevalence of nasal polyposis and prior ESS (both p < 0.001) and significantly worse baseline CT, endoscopy, and olfactory scores (all p < 0.001) than patients without osteitis. There was no difference in baseline QOL scores between patients with and without osteitis. Following ESS, there were significant improvements in all QOL measures in both groups; however, patients without osteitis were more likely to exhibit clinically meaningful improvement on physical RSDI subscale scores, independent of other clinical factors (79.0% vs 62.3%; odds ratio [OR]: 3.85, p = 0.011). CONCLUSION: Osteitis is associated with worse baseline measures of disease severity and inflammation. Our data suggest that whereas patients with osteitis improve after ESS, the presence of osteitis is associated with a reduced chance of improvement in some outcome measures.