Inflammation of the periosteum. The usual cause is a blow that presses directly on to bone. Symptoms include pain, tenderness, and swelling over the affected area.
Periostitis means in?ammation on the surface of a BONE, affecting the PERIOSTEUM. (See BONE, DISORDERS OF.)
n. inflammation of the membrane surrounding a bone (see periosteum). Acute periostitis results from direct injury to the bone and is associated with a *haematoma, which may later become infected. The uncomplicated condition subsides quickly with rest and anti-inflammatory analgesics. Chronic periostitis sometimes follows but is more often due to an inflammatory disease, such as tuberculosis or syphilis, or to a chronic ulcer overlying the bone involved. Chronic periostitis causes thickening of the underlying bone, which is evident on X-ray.
A non-venereal spirochaetal infection caused by Treponema pertenue ; it was formerly widespread in most tropical and subtropical regions amongst the indigenous population, ?orid disease being more common in children than adults. The term is of Carib-Indian (native to north-eastern South America, the east coast of Central America, and the lesser Antilles) origin. It is directly contagious from person to person; infection is also transmitted by ?ies, clothing, and living in unclean huts. Clinically, the primary stage is characterised by a granulomatous lesion, or papule (framboesioma or ‘mother yaw’) at the site of infection – usually the lower leg or foot; this enlarges, crusts, and heals spontaneously. It appears some 2–8 weeks after infection, during which time fever, malaise, pains, and pruritus may be present. In the secondary stage, a granulomatous, papular, macular or squamous eruption occurs; periostitis may also be present. The late, or tertiary stage (which appears 5–10 years later), is characterised by skin plaques, nodules, ulcers, hyperkeratosis (thickening of the skin of the hands and feet) and gummatous lesions affecting bones. Recurrence of infection in individuals suffering from a concurrent infection (e.g. SYPHILIS or TUBERCULOSIS) renders the infection more serious. Diagnosis is by demonstration of T. pertenue in exudate from a suspected lesion. Treatment is with PENICILLIN, to which T. pertenue is highly sensitive. Extensive eradication campaigns (initiated by the WHO in 1949) have been carried out in endemic areas; therefore, the early stages of the infection are rarely counted; only tertiary stages come to the attention of a physician. Failure of surveillance can lead to dramatic local recurrences.... yaws
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