Radiographic profile of bones and joints infections in children in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso : Reflection for improvement of radiologic diagnosis

Abstract

Objectives: To take stock of the radiographic features of bone lesions in children and identify the difficulties of early d iagnosis  in order to propose a radiologic diagnostic approach taking into account our technical facilities at the University Teaching Hospital of Bobo-Dioulasso.

A retrospective review of patients aged 0-14 years with osteoarticular infection investigated by x-ray or CT 1^th January 2004 to 31 December 2008 was undertaken. Epidemiological and radiological data were analyzed by using Epi Info version 3.3.2.

The radiological investigation has involved 120 children whose average age was 8.2 years. There were 71 boys (59.l %) and 49 girls. These osteoarticular infections were divided into 70 cases of osteomyelitis (58.3 %) including 12 cases of acute osteomyelitis and 58 cases of chronic osteomyelitis, 17 cases of arthritis (14.2 %), 14 cases of osteoarthritis (11.6 %), 5 cases of spondylodiscitis (4.2 %) and 4 cases of multiform infection (3.4 %). Radiologica l images were polymorphic, and dominated by sequestrum in chronic osteomyelitis (60.3 % of cases).

Our results show that medical imaging is an indispensable tool in the management of osteoarticular infections in children. It has a diagnostic value but also prognostic.