Challenges in managing paediatric osteomyelitis in the developing world: analysis of cases presenting to a tertiary referral centre in Tanzania.

Background: The literature on paediatric osteomyelitis in the developing world is scarce, and there have been calls for further characterisation of its epidemiology and the identification of factors that limit effective management in order to guide local service delivery. Our centre is a hospital serving a population of 11 million people in Tanzania.

Materials And Methods: We identified patients <18 years admitted between 1 st January 2008 and 31 st December 2010 with a diagnosis of osteomyelitis through a search of admission logbooks.