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Objective: Pediatric spondylodiscitis (PSD) is an uncommon condition, for which there are no specific international clinical guidelines. Factors related to complications have not been stablished. Our aim was to describe clinical and epidemiological characteristics of PSD, to analyze factors associated with complications and to evaluate adherence to the recommendations of the Spanish National Consensus Document (NCD) for the diagnostic and therapeutic approach to acute osteoarticular infections. Material and methods: Ambispective, multicenter, national study of two PSD cohorts: historical (2008–2012) and prospective (2015–2020, after publication of NCD).Patients with diagnosis of PSD were included. Demographic, clinical, microbiological and radiological data were recorded. Factors related to the development of complications were analized by logistic regression. Comparisons between both cohorts were performed. Results: Ninety-eight PSD were included. In 84.7%, diagnosis was confirmed by magnetic resonance imaging. Microbiological isolation was obtained in 6.1%, with methicillin-sensitive S. aureus as the main etiologic agent. Complications occurred in 18.9%, the most frequent being soft tissue abscess. Of the 8.6% of patients with sequelae, persistent pain was the most common. Comparing cohorts, there was better adherence to NCD treatment recommendations in the prospective one (57.6% vs. 12.9%, p

Background/Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the impact of the PCR multiplex panel (BioFire JI®) on the diagnosis and management of pediatric osteoarticular infections. Methods: This retrospective study analyzed data from pediatric patients diagnosed with osteoarticular infections between January 2023 and April 2024. The effectiveness of the PCR multiplex panel in identifying pathogens was compared with traditional culture methods. Results: In total, 50 patients were identified (66.6% male, 74% under 3 years of age). They were diagnosed as follows: septic arthritis in 46%, osteomyelitis in 26%, and septic osteoarthritis in 22%. An identifiable agent was isolated by conventional culture in 22 cases (44%). Kingella kingae was the predominant pathogen identified, accounting for 50% of cases (11/22), followed by Staphylococcus aureus (9/22). The BioFire JI® Panel PCR demonstrated a sensitivity of 93%, with a specificity of 63% when evaluated against synovial fluid culture as the reference standard. The panel identified seven additional pathogens not detected by conventional culture methods: 2/9 MSSA (22%), 1/1 S. pyogenes (100%), and 4/11 K. kingae (37%), increasing the yield by 14%. The rapid identification of pathogens facilitated timely and targeted therapeutic interventions. Conclusions: The PCR multiplex panel (BioFire JI®) improved the diagnosis of pediatric osteoarticular infections.