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Infectious Disease in the Aging pp 125–138Cite as

Osteomyelitis and Septic Arthritis

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Part of the book series: Infectious Disease ((ID))

Abstract

In comparison with lower respiratory tract, urinary tract, and skin and soft tissue infections, infections of bones and joints are relatively uncommon in the elderly, accounting for no more than a few percent of the infectious diseases treated by geriatricians. However, some bone and joint infections disproportionately afflict the elderly, such as osteomyelitis contiguous to pressure ulcers, septic arthritis of joints damaged by rheumatoid arthritis, or periprosthetic hip joint septic arthritis. As is true of many infectious illnesses in the elderly, diagnosis of bone and joint infections may be complicated by subtle, masked, or atypical clinical presentations. The consequences of delay in diagnosis and treatment of these infections, moreover, are no less serious in the elderly than in younger patients, and in the frail elderly inadequate diagnosis and treatment may increase mortality and cause great morbidity. Although definitive antibiotic treatment is similar to that of bone and joint infections in younger patients, empiric therapy in most cases must be broader.

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Authors
  1. Jack D. McCue
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science and Martin Luther King, Jr.-Charles R. Drew Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Thomas T. Yoshikawa MD

  2. Greater West Los Angeles Healthcare System and UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Dean C. Norman MD

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© 2001 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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McCue, J.D. (2001). Osteomyelitis and Septic Arthritis. In: Yoshikawa, T.T., Norman, D.C. (eds) Infectious Disease in the Aging. Infectious Disease. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-026-1_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-026-1_12

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-5459-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-59259-026-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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