Osteomyelitis of the spine due to Salmonella infection: a case report

Abstract

Acute osteomyelitis (OM) is an inflammatory process of bone accompanied by bone destruction, usually of infectious bacterial etiology and hematogenous spread. Among the different forms of osteomyelitis in children, only 1 to 2% affect the spine. We present the case of a previously healthy 12-year-old patient with vertebral OM with an initial clinical presentation of pain, fever and claudication without associated gastrointestinal symptoms. The diagnosis was made by vertebral body biopsy culture with improvement after prolonged and adequate antibiotic therapy.