Abstract
1. The treatment of twenty-nine consecutive patients suffering from chronic osteomyelitis is reviewed. With the advent of an antibiotic, Fucidin, which has the ability to penetrate in significant amounts into tissues carrying a poor blood supply, a more limited surgical procedure has become possible.
2. A successful outcome, as judged by primary healing, was achieved in 86 per cent of patients treated with a combination of surgery and Fucidin with penicillin. This compares favourably with the results achieved in a previous series in which more radical surgery was undertaken.
3. Although Fucidin has advanced the treatment of chronic osteomyelitis, it is still essential to use surgery as well.
4. Fucidin caused no toxic effects despite an average total dose of seventy to eighty grammes. Resistance of the staphylococcus developed in vitro in one patient, without affecting a satisfactory clinical outcome.
