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Most osteoarticular infections (OAI) occur via the hematogenous route, affect children under 5 years of age old, and include osteomyelitis, septic arthritis, osteoarthritis and spondylodiscitis. Early diagnosis and prompt treatment are needed to avoid complications. Children with suspected OAI should be hospitalized at the start of therapy. Surgical drainage is indicated in patients with septic arthritis or periosteal abscess. Staphylococcus aureus is implicated in OAI in children at all ages; Kingella kingae is a very common causative pathogen in children from 6 months to 4 years old. The French Pediatric Infectious Disease Group recommends empirical antibiotic therapy with appropriate coverage against methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) with high doses (150 mg/kg/d) of intravenous cefazolin. In most children presenting uncomplicated OAI with favorable outcome (disappearance of fever and pain), short intravenous antibiotic therapy during 3 days can be followed by oral therapy. In the absence of bacteriological identification, oral relay is carried out with the amoxicillin/clavulanate combination (80 mg/kg/d of amoxicillin) or cefalexin (150 mg/kg/d). If the bacterial species is identified, antibiotic therapy will be adapted to antibiotic susceptibility. The minimum total duration of antibiotic therapy should be 14 days for septic arthritis, 3 weeks for osteomyelitis and 4-6 weeks for OAI of the pelvis, spondylodiscitis and more severe OAI, and those evolving slowly under treatment or with an underlying medical condition (neonate, infant under 3 months of old, immunocompromised patients). Treatment of spondylodiscitis and severe OAI requires systematic orthopedic advice., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Background: Short treatments for acute bone and joint infections (BJI) are recommended. We implemented a protocol in 2009 to improve diagnosis and bacteriological documentation, and to shorten antibiotic therapies as per French guidelines (French Pediatric Infectious Disease Group, GPIP)., Methods: To assess the impact of the new clinical protocol for BJI, we conducted a retrospective study from January 1st, 2006 to August 31st, 2012. Two successive cohorts were compared, before and after protocol implementation. All children suspected of community-acquired BJI were included. Confirmed osteomyelitis and septic arthritis required a positive bacterial isolate; otherwise, cases were considered probable. We compared clinical, biological, and radiological data; duration of antibiotic therapy and hospital length of stay; and complications and sequelae., Results: A total of 377 children with suspected BJI were included. The bacteriological identification improved from 32% to 44% when patients were completely evaluated. Isolated bacteria were Staphylococcus aureus (53%), Kingella kingae (17%), Streptococcus pyogenes (15%), and Streptococcus pneumoniae (8%). Before protocol implementation, 70% of patients had a central venous line versus 9% after implementation. Mean duration of IV antibiotics (11 days versus 6 days), mean duration of total antibiotic therapy (45 days versus 32 days) and mean hospital length of stay (13 days versus 7 days) had significantly improved., Conclusion: Improvement in bacteriological diagnosis and shorter antibiotic regimens lead to shorter hospital length of stays with no additional morbidity. Simplifying the protocol and better diffusion among health professionals should contribute to shortening BJI treatment duration., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

La plupart des infections ostéo-articulaires (IOA) surviennent par voie hématogène, touchent les enfants de moins de 5 ans et comprennent l'ostéomyélite, l'arthrite septique, l'ostéo-athite et la spondylodiscite. Un diagnostic précoce et un traitement rapide sont nécessaires pour éviter les complications. Les enfants chez lesquels on suspecte une IOA doivent être hospitalisés dès le début du traitement. Le drainage chirurgical est indiqué chez les patients souffrant d'arthrite septique ou d'abcès périostique. Staphylococcus aureus est impliqué dans l'IOA chez les enfants de tous âges ; Kingella kingae est un agent pathogène très commun chez les enfants de 6 mois à 4 ans. Le Groupe français d'infectiologie pédiatrique recommande une antibiothérapie empirique avec une couverture appropriée contre les S. aureus sensibles à la méthicilline. S. aureus (MSSA) avec de fortes doses (150 mg/kg/j) de céfazoline intraveineuse. Chez la plupart des enfants présentant une IOA non compliquée présentant une évolution favorable (disparition de la fièvre et de la douleur), une antibiothérapie intraveineuse courte pendant 3 j peut être suivie d'un traitement oral. En l'absence d'identification bactériologique, le relais oral se fait avec l'association amoxicilline/clavulanate (80 mg/kg/j d'amoxicilline) ou la céfalexine (150 mg/kg/j). Si l'espèce bactérienne est identifiée, l'antibiothérapie sera adaptée à la sensibilité aux antibiotiques. La durée totale minimale de l'antibiothérapie doit être de 14 j pour les arthrites septiques, de 3 semaines pour les ostéomyélites et de 4 à 6 semaines pour les ostéoarthrites du bassin, les spondylodiscites et les ostéoarthrites plus sévères, ainsi que celles qui évoluent lentement sous traitement ou qui présentent une pathologie sous-jacente (nouveau-né, nourrisson de moins de 3 mois, patients immunodéprimés). Le traitement de la spondylodiscite et de l'IOA sévère nécessite un avis orthopédique systématique. Most osteoarticular infections (OAI) occur via the hematogenous route, affect children under 5 years of age old, and include osteomyelitis, septic arthritis, osteoarthritis and spondylodiscitis. Early diagnosis and prompt treatment are needed to avoid complications. Children with suspected OAI should be hospitalized at the start of therapy. Surgical drainage is indicated in patients with septic arthritis or periosteal abscess. Staphylococcus aureus is implicated in OAI in children at all ages; Kingella kingae is a very common causative pathogen in children from 6 months to 4 years old. The French Pediatric Infectious Disease Group recommends empirical antibiotic therapy with appropriate coverage against methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) with high doses (150 mg/kg/d) of intravenous cefazolin. In most children presenting uncomplicated OAI with favorable outcome (disappearance of fever and pain), short intravenous antibiotic therapy during 3 days can be followed by oral therapy. In the absence of bacteriological identification, oral relay is carried out with the amoxicillin/clavulanate combination (80 mg/kg/d of amoxicillin) or cefalexin (150 mg/kg/d). If the bacterial species is identified, antibiotic therapy will be adapted to antibiotic susceptibility. The minimum total duration of antibiotic therapy should be 14 days for septic arthritis, 3 weeks for osteomyelitis and 4–6 weeks for OAI of the pelvis, spondylodiscitis and more severe OAI, and those evolving slowly under treatment or with an underlying medical condition (neonate, infant under 3 months of old, immunocompromised patients). Treatment of spondylodiscitis and severe OAI requires systematic orthopedic advice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]