The sensitivity and specificity of radiology and histopathology in the diagnosis of
post-traumatic osteomyelitis was determined. Post-traumatic osteomyelitis was created
in one tibia of each of 31 dogs. Fifteen dogs did not receive treatment and sixteen
dogs were treated with clindamycin (11 mg/kg body weight q 12 h, PO) for 28 days.
At 8 wks post-inoculation week, S. aureus was isolated from nine of 31 dogs. Bacteriological reculture was the standard diagnostic
test for osteomyelitis and was used as the standard for comparison in the calculations
of the sensitivity and specificity of both radiology and histopathology. The sensitivity
of radiology (radiological consensus of three radiologists) in the diagnosis of post-traumatic
osteomyelitis at 8 weeks post-inoculation was 62.5% with a range among individual
radiologists from 37.5% to 62.5%. The specificity of radiology (consensus) in the
diagnosis of posttraumatic osteomyelitis at 8 weeks post-inoculation was 57.1% with
a range among individual radiologists from 28.5% to 95.2%. The sensitivity of histopathology
in the diagnosis of post-traumatic osteomyelitis at 8 weeks post-inoculation was 33.3%.
The specificity of histopathology in the diagnosis of post-traumatic osteomyelitis
at 8 weeks post-inoculation was 86.3%.
Key words
Osteomyelitis - Diagnosis - Radiology - Histopathology - Sensitivity - Specificity
