My sister is 34 years old and a paraplegic T-7 she has been in and out of hospitals for years since her accident and never catches a break....this time she got a bed sore and went into the hospital where another sore showed up after being in the hospital for 2 months and the doctors took more tests and cat scans and x rays and diagnosed her with osteomyelitis in her left hip and leg they said they would like to amputate and she said No! I wanna know if anyone knows if and how long you can live with the condition untreated?
Osteomyelitis often requires prolonged antibiotic therapy, with a course lasting a matter of weeks or months. A PICC line or central venous catheter is often placed for this purpose. Osteomyelitis also may require surgical debridement. Severe cases may lead to the loss of a limb. Initial first-line antibiotic choice is determined by the patient's history and regional differences in common infective organisms. A treatment lasting 42 days is practiced in a number of facilities.[11] Local and sustained availability of drugs have proven to be more effective in achieving prophylactic and therapeutic outcomes.[12]
In 1875, American artist Thomas Eakins depicted a surgical procedure for osteomyelitis at Jefferson Medical College, in a famous oil painting titled The Gross Clinic.
Prior to the widespread availability and use of antibiotics, blow fly larvae were sometimes deliberately introduced to the wounds to feed on the infected material, effectively scouring them clean.[13][14]
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has been shown to be a useful adjunct to the treatment of refractory osteomyelitis.[15][16]
Open surgery is needed for chronic osteomyelitis, whereby the involucrum is opened and the sequestrum is removed or sometimes saucerization[17] can be done