Abstract
Patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) have a higher risk of developing osteoarticular
(OA) infections, which are most commonly caused by Salmonella and Staphylococcus aureus. Here, we report an unusual case of severe anaerobic osteoarticular infection caused
by Bacteroides fragilis in an 11-year-old girl with SCD. Her management was challenging because she required
joint aspiration twice, two rounds of surgical debridement, and a prolonged course
of combined antimicrobial therapy to achieve clinical and biochemical improvement.
To achieve good clinical outcomes, an anaerobic cause of OA infections should be considered
in patients with SCD if improvement does not occur using the usual empirical antibiotic
regimens.
Keywords
anaerobic bacterium -
Bacteroides fragilis
- osteomyelitis - septic arthritis - sickle cell disease
