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Despite a growing interest in oral therapy for native vertebral osteomyelitis, there is no evidence to recommend oral or parenteral therapy. From our single-center experience combined with a systematic review and a meta-analysis of the available literature, there is insufficient evidence to conclude that there is a difference in proportion of failure and relapse between an early switch to oral antibiotics and prolonged parenteral therapy. Further studies are needed to increase the evidence.

A Madura foot caused by the fungus Madurella mycetomatis is a rare condition in non-endemic countries, but should be included in the differential diagnosis in case of soft tissue swellings of the foot in patients who have been in mycetomatis-endemic regions, more specifically in immunocompromised patients, who are at risk of developing a (more severe) mycetoma infection. Adequate treatment is needed to prevent the progression and recurrence of a Madura foot.

Every year the incidence of prosthetic joint infection (PJI) continues to increase. Therefore, it required a way to reduce complications, one of them coating methods. However, the best preventive strategy is still debatable. Through various review processes, it was finally discovered that coating methods using antibiotics were an effective method to prevent the occurrence of PJI, while coating with non-antibiotic materials such as silver and iodine is significant in preventing incidence of PJI.

Treatments for prosthetic joint infections (PJIs) are often assessed using a success or failure endpoint. Yet, this can fail to capture important outcomes for patients. A desirability of outcome ranking (DOOR) is a way of evaluating treatments in a more patient-focused form. This study found an outcome ranking using joint function, infection cure and quality of life. This helps to answer what are we trying to achieve for patients with PJI and how we measure the effectiveness of PJI treatments.

In this study, we prospectively enrolled patients with a suspected diagnosis of native vertebral osteomyelitis (NVO) undergoing image-guided needle aspiration of the intervertebral disc. Based on this pilot study, a high manual cell count or a high neutrophilic predominance from the disc aspirate was associated with the diagnosis of NVO.

Culture-negative (CN) prosthetic joint infections (PJIs) present significant challenges for clinicians. While previous retrospective analyses have been conducted, inconsistencies in inclusion criteria and treatment success measures limit the opportunity for direct comparisons and use in guiding clinical practice. We compared baseline characteristics and outcomes of CN with culture-positive (CP) cases in a large multicentre prospective cohort and demonstrated improved overall outcomes in CN PJI.

Long antibiotic courses, including IV and oral administrations, are utilized in prosthetic joint infection (PJI) treatment. Most researchers focus on a shorter duration of the overall antibiotic course for the treatment of PJI; however, this is the first systematic review and meta-analysis to emphasize the IV component of the antibiotic course. The focus on IV treatment only is due to the burden associated with it and its prolonged utilization within the US without much evidence of practice.

Forty years ago I made a radical professional choice: to dedicate a few years of practice to the African continent. Not surprisingly, a few years became many. This paper is dedicated to the children who are battling osteoarticular infections and to those who will be struggling with them in future.