Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Bone infection signs and recovery in three dogs with haematogenous
By Rabillard, M et al.·Published in Veterinary and comparative orthopaedics and traumatology : V.C.O.T·2011·Department of Small Animal Surgery, France·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Haematogenous osteomyelitis: clinical presentation and outcome in three dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 3-year-old mixed-breed dog was brought in with a painful back leg and fever, which turned out to be a rare bone infection called haematogenous osteomyelitis. The vet used imaging tests and a biopsy to confirm the diagnosis and treated the dog with long-term antibiotics and surgery to remove the infected tissue. After treatment, the dog made an excellent recovery and was able to return to normal activities. Unfortunately, another adult dog with a more severe case had multiple bone infections and was euthanized due to complications.
People also search for: dog leg pain fever · bone infection treatment in dogs · haematogenous osteomyelitis in dogs
Abstract
Haematogenous osteomyelitis is a rare form of bone infection in adult dogs. Most commonly the infection is iatrogenic or traumatic in origin. The authors report three different presentations of haematogenous osteomyelitis: a focal pelvic localisation in a growing dog, a vertebral lesion in an adult dog with associated neurological signs and a multifocal affection in another adult dog with concomitant pathological fractures. Clinical signs included pyrexia of undetermined origin, focal pain and lameness. Diagnostic investigation included radiographic imaging, bone scintigraphy, magnetic resonance imaging, surgical biopsy, and bacteriological culture with sensitivity testing of biopsy specimens as well as of peripheral blood samples. Treatment consisted of long-term antimicrobial therapy and surgical debridement with curettage of the pelvic abscess of the young dog and decompressive hemilaminectomy of the second dog, with excellent recovery. The dog affected by polyostotic bone involvement and suffering pathological fractures was euthanatized. Haematogenous osteomyelitis may be a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge and may present as a devastating skeletal condition, even in adult dogs, and should be considered amongst the differential diagnoses early on to allow effective treatment.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21243172/