Osteomyelitis is one of the oldest recorded diseases, with descriptions dating back to the time of Hippocrates (460-370 BC)

[2]. Terms such as "abscessus in medulla," "necrosis", and "a boil of the bone marrow" were used to describe the infection until Nelaton introduced the term "osteomyelitis" in 1844. Prior to the introduction of penicillin in 1940, the management of acute osteomyelitis was purely surgical, with large incisions for removal of all necrotic bone [2]. Wounds were packed with Vaseline gauze and left to heal by secondary intention after immobilization. Mortality rates remained high (about 33 percent) due to sepsis until the introduction of penicillin, which dramatically changed the treatment and prognosis of osteomyelitis. Complications such as sequestration, sinus formation, and sepsis became less common and the goals of therapy changed from disease containment to cure. PATHOPHYSIOLOGY Osteomyelitis can occur as a result of hematogenous seeding, contiguous spread of infection to bone from adjacent soft tissues and joints, or direct inoculation of infection into the bone as a result of trauma or surgery. Hematogenous osteomyelitis is usually monomicrobial, while osteomyelitis due to contiguous spread or direct inoculation is usually polymicrobial. In long bone hematogenous osteomyelitis, the most common site of infection is in the metaphysis. The major blood vessel to long bones usually penetrates the midshaft of the bone and then travels towards both ends, forming metaphyseal vascular loops just before it hits the epiphyseal plates. Slowed blood flow in these loops (together with the absence of basement membranes) predisposes this site to osteomyelitis.

Inflammation of bone, localized or generalized, due to a pyogenic infection. It may result in bone destruction, in stiffening of joints if the infection spreads to the joints, and, in extreme cases occurring before the end of the growth period, in the shortening of a limb if the growth center is destroyed. Specific osteomyelitides in animals are actinomycosis and necrotic rhinitis of pigs. Clinical signs include persistent, severe pain, surrounding cellulitis sometimes with sinuses to the exterior. The affected bone is subject to pathological fracture and is readily recognizable radiographically. There are local signs related to the position and function of the affected bone, e.g. lameness, inability to eat. Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/osteomyelitis#ixzz1Ymj48RbB