Characteristics of Children With Culture Negative Acute Hematogenous Musculoskeletal Infections

Conclusions: Despite targeted and standardized efforts to identify causative bacteria, 25% of children with acute MSKIs never have a pathogen identified. Culture negative patients are younger, less febrile, are less likely to have an abscess, and more likely to have isolated septic arthritis. Level of Evidence: This is a retrospective cohort study interested in identifying patient characteristics that predict rate of culture positivity for acute MSKIs. This study meets criteria for Level II evidence.
Source: Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics - Category: Orthopaedics Tags: Infection Source Type: research