What is it about?
Recurrent episodes of pain and swelling of the mandible in children is an uncommon condition which is frequently misdiagnosed as a bacterial infection. As a result, patients may be inappropriately treated with antibiotics for extended periods of time and with oral surgery procedures. Recent research indicates that the condition has a genetic etiology and is best managed by physicians who specialize in inflammatory disorders. Older names for the condition were juvenile mandibular chronic osteomyelitis, mandibular osteomyelitis, and chronic scleorsing osteomyelitis. Based on the newer research, the condition is now termed nonbacterial osteomyelitis of the mandible to emphasize that it does not have an infectious cause.
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Why is it important?
Because nonbacterial osteomyelitis of the mandible is an uncommon disorder, many physicians and oral surgeons may not be familiar with recent research which establishes a genetic causation and still consider it to be a form of bacterial osteomyelitis. This report serves to highlight the recent concepts that the disorder is best managed with anti-inflammatory medications.
Perspectives
It is hoped that this report will help primary physicians, infectious disease specialists, and oral surgeons recognize that this condition is not a form of bacterial osteomyelitis thereby preventing inappropriate treatment with antibiotics and oral surgery procedures. Also, it is hoped that the report may alert parents of these patients to the condition so that they can help inform their child's physicians.
Harvey Hamrick
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Health Sciences Library
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Chronic Nonbacterial Osteomyelitis of the Mandible: Recognition, Etiology, and Management, Clinical Pediatrics, August 2017, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/0009922817721157.
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