Clinical and Microbiological Characterization of Osteoarticular Infections in Children from a clinic in Rionegro, Antioquia

Introduction: Osteomyelitis and septic arthritis are common invasive bacterial infections in children. Objective: To describe the microorganisms, antimicrobial susceptibility, and microbiological diagnostic procedures. Methods: case series in children with confirmed diagnosis, between 2017 – 2022. Results: 48/84 patients were studied. Cases of osteomyelitis, septic arthritis and osteoarthritis were 20.8%, 37.5% and 41.6%, respectively. Isolated microorganisms included Methicillin-Susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) 30.7%, Methicillin-Resistant S. aureus (MRSA) 28.8%, Pseudomonas aeruginosa 5.7%, S. epidermidis 3.8%, Escherichia coli 3.8%, Enterococcus faecalis 3.8%, Aeromonas hydrophila 3.8%, Mycobacterium tuberculosis 1.9%, Salmonella spp. 1.9%, among others. In 40 infections originating from skin and soft tissues, orthopedic hardware, limb trauma, and without an identified source, MSSA/MRSA predominated (75%). MSSA/MRSA showed susceptibility to vancomycin at 100%, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole at 100% and 93%, and clindamycin at 100% and 86.6%, respectively. Blood cultures (n=22), synovial tissue cultures (n=7), bone cultures (n=28), and bone pus or synovial fluid in blood culture bottles (n=3) were positive in 100%. Conclusions: S. aureus was the most frequent microorganism with a high proportion of MRSA. MRSA exhibited high susceptibility to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and vancomycin. The high positivity of primary cultures suggests the importance of always obtaining them.