Complications
- Sepsis: Always be cautious of it!!
- Infection recurrence may be present, especially in chronic OM patients and those with chaotic lifestyle.
- Where extensive infection is present and bone degradation has occurred fracture may happen.
- The end point of surgical management is amputation, if infection spreads and the limb becomes devitalised / sepsis occurs then amputation may be needed.
If untreated osteomyelitis is highly destructive.
The end point for many chronic OM patients is amputation. Where blood sugar is not brought under control, wounds are not maintained properly, podiatry / wound clinics are skipped - it is likely to end up with widespread infection, disseminated sepsis and amputation is needed.
It is important to inform patients of the importance of wound care and lifestyle management, particularly in the case of chronic OM secondary to metabolic syndromes.
Sometimes patients do not appreciate the severity of OM, especially in diabetic patients and those with chaotic lifestyles, it is important to reinforce the severity of it and what may happen as you need to get their lifestyle under control if they are to have decent outcomes from OM.
Multi-disciplinary and psychological input may be needed in some cases as oftentimes there are psychosocial factors impacting patient recovery.
