Antibiotic irrigation-perfusion treatment for chronic osteomyelitis.

This paper reports 125 antibiotic irrigation-perfusion treatments of chronic osteomyelitic patients. The localisation of the osteomyelitic process, the duration of the disease, the duration of the treatment, the age distributions of the patients, and the results of the treatment are noted. The study revealed that only one third of the patients healed after the irrigation-perfusion treatment. This rate falls short of the results reported in the literature. The possible causes are discussed and emphasis is given to the technical problems. On the basis of this survey the author is of the opinion that this method is to be employed only in exceptional cases of bone infections. The indication and contraindications are precisely defined.