TY - JOUR
T1 - Musculoskeletal Infections in the Emergency Department
AU - Kolinsky, Daniel C.
AU - Liang, Stephen Y.
N1 - Funding Information:
Disclosure Statement: S.Y. Liang reports no conflicts of interest in this work. S.Y. Liang is the recipient of a KM1 Comparative Effectiveness Research Career Development Award (KM1CA156708-01) and received support through the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program (UL1RR024992) of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences as well as the Barnes-Jewish Patient Safety & Quality Career Development Program, which is funded by the Foundation for Barnes-Jewish Hospital.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2018/11
Y1 - 2018/11
N2 - Bone and joint infections are potentially limb-threatening or even life-threatening diseases. Emergency physicians must consider infection when evaluating musculoskeletal complaints, as misdiagnosis can have significant consequences. Patients with bone and joint infections can have heterogeneous presentations with nonspecific signs and symptoms. Staphylococcus aureus is the most commonly implicated microorganism. Although diagnosis may be suggested by physical examination, laboratory testing, and imaging, tissue sampling for Gram stain and microbiologic culture is preferable, as pathogen identification and susceptibility testing help optimize long-term antibiotic therapy. A combination of medical and surgical interventions is often necessary to effectively manage these challenging infections.
AB - Bone and joint infections are potentially limb-threatening or even life-threatening diseases. Emergency physicians must consider infection when evaluating musculoskeletal complaints, as misdiagnosis can have significant consequences. Patients with bone and joint infections can have heterogeneous presentations with nonspecific signs and symptoms. Staphylococcus aureus is the most commonly implicated microorganism. Although diagnosis may be suggested by physical examination, laboratory testing, and imaging, tissue sampling for Gram stain and microbiologic culture is preferable, as pathogen identification and susceptibility testing help optimize long-term antibiotic therapy. A combination of medical and surgical interventions is often necessary to effectively manage these challenging infections.
KW - Emergency department
KW - Osteomyelitis
KW - Periprosthetic joint infection
KW - Posttraumatic osteomyelitis
KW - Septic arthritis
KW - Spinal epidural abscess
KW - Spondylodiscitis
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85052878955&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.emc.2018.06.006
DO - 10.1016/j.emc.2018.06.006
M3 - Review article
C2 - 30297002
AN - SCOPUS:85052878955
SN - 0733-8627
VL - 36
SP - 751
EP - 766
JO - Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America
JF - Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America
IS - 4
ER -