Back in the Dark Ages when I began my Nursing career, osteo was treated aggressively with 6 weeks of IV antibiotics in the hospital, followed by a long course of oral antibiotic.
Now it seems it is not considered as a "must treat" condition.
The Podiatrist who comes to our facility says he has patients who have had osteo for decades! He says he does not necessarily treat osteo at all. ?
I know many things have changed over more than 40 years and osteo treatment seems to be one of them.
What is your experience with osteomyelitis, particularly in diabetics?
What type of patients do you care for, Tweety? Elderly, diabetic, in a facility? Other?
So chronic osteo is not so unusual, it seems.
What do these patients actually die from? Infection or mostly other things like CVA, MI, Ca?
I work in a hospital in general med surg. We see patients of all ages. Osteomyelitis isn't all that common but it does occur for a variety of reasons. Often some sort of untreated muscular infection infects the bone (even the spine), or infected hardware from a prior surgery, non-healing wounds on a diabetic, etc.
Tweety, BSN, RN
36,438 Posts
I suppose those with poor circulation do have chronic osteo that antibiotics are ineffective against.
The standard of care where I work is that osteo is treated with six weeks or more of IV antibiotics.