A Clinical Study of Infection in Bone and Joint by Bone Scan

Early detection of bone and joint infection is very important in establishing early therapeutic intervention and prevention of complications. Bone scan with Tc 99m-MDP was done in 35 cases for the confirmation of infections on bone and joints at Ewha Womans University Hospital from January 1985 to July 1986 and analysed both clinically and roentgenographically, and following results were obtained. 1) In 15 cases of bone scan for early diagnosis of acute osteomyelitis, positive was 13 cases, and the sensitivity in acute osteomyelitis with bone scan was 86.7%. 2) In 6 cases of bone scan for chronic osteomyelitis, all were positive in bone scan and in X-ray. 3) In 13 cases of suspected infection of joints, 9 were positive in bone scan. In 7 cases of tuberculous arthritis, positive bone scan was 4 cases(55.6%), and in 5 cases of pyogenic arthritis, positive bone scan was 4 cases(80%). From above data, bone scan is very important in establishing early diagnosis and appropriate treatment in the cases of bone and joint infections especially in acute and chronic osteomyelitis and pyogenic arthritis.