Clinical study
Pyogenic sacroiliitis

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Abstract

Seven definite and three probable cases of pyogenic sacroiliitis are presented and compared to 72 cases found in the English literature. Patients may present with a subacute localized or an acute systemic illness. Six of our patients were parenteral drug abusers. Symptoms often were vague, but sacroiliac tenderness was invariably found on examination. Sacroiliac uptake of gallium67 citrate and/or technetium 99m pyrophosphate suggested the diagnosis which was confirmed by fluoroscopically controlled joint aspiration when blood cultures were sterile. Gram-negative organisms, group B streptococci and a Staphylococcus were isolated. Antibiotic treatment for four to six weeks was uniformly successful. Surgery should be reserved for abscess or sequestrum formation, neither of which were encountered in this series.

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  • Cited by (0)

    This report was supported in part by U.S. Public Health Service Training Grant PHS 5-T32 AI 07099-02.

    1

    From the Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine and the Michael Reese Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois.

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