Salmonella typhi osteomyelitis in a nonsickle cell patient. A case report.

Abstract

Few cases of osteomyelitis caused by Salmonella typhi in nonsickle cell patients have been reported. In a 33-year-old woman with a history of chronic, intermittent drainage of the right lower leg, roentgenographs indicated middiaphyseal osteomyelitis of the fibula. Bone cultures obtained at surgical debridement grew S. typhi. The patient responded adequately to four weeks of intravenous antibiotic therapy, and the infection has remained arrested after 18 months. The characteristics of S. typhi osteomyelitis are as follows: All reported cases have affected female patients with no apparent immunocompromise; all had a history of S. typhi infection with long bone involvement; and all had a tendency to recurrence.