Osteomyelitis of the skull

Skull osteomyelitis usually follows inadequately treated craniocerebral trauma causing bacterial infection and inflammation of the skull, with a series of clinical symptoms; infection may be localized to one skull bone or spread across sutures to several.

Common Symptoms

Brain abscess; lymphadenopathy; fatigue; fever; meningitis; skull hyperplasia

Causes

Causes include: direct skull contamination in open injury with delayed or improper debridement; scalp injury with wound infection spreading via emissary veins, or scalp defect leaving bone exposed and necrotic; open skull fracture involving paranasal sinuses, middle ear and mastoid. Acute calvarial osteomyelitis presents as scalp edema, pain and local tenderness; as infection spreads under the outer-table periosteum, a Pott's puffy tumor appears. Chronic skull osteomyelitis presents as a long-unhealed sinus repeatedly discharging pus and sometimes sequestra fragments; long-standing chronic disease may show sclerosis and hyperostosis around the destroyed area, diagnosable on plain X-ray. Infection may spread across sutures to several bones, and retrograde thrombophlebitis may spread infection intracranially from the subperiosteal or epidural space, forming epidural or subdural empyema and/or brain abscess. Brain abscess is pyogenic encephalitis, chronic granuloma and abscess capsule caused by pyogenic bacteria, and rarely by fungi or protozoa invading brain tissue; it occurs at any age, most commonly in young adults.

Treatment

Rehabilitation therapy, surgery, supportive treatment

Prevention

Prompt wound care and thorough debridement without retained foreign bodies after head trauma can prevent this disease.

Recommended Department

It is recommended to visit the neurology department; before the visit you may first book an appointment and connect with experts through this platform.

Warm reminder: The above information is provided for health education reference only and cannot replace professional medical diagnosis. If you have related symptoms, please seek care at a regular hospital in time.