Influence of chronic osteomyelitis on skeletal growth: analysis at maturity of 26 cases affected during childhood.

Twenty-six patients who had suffered from chronic osteomyelitis since childhood were followed after skeletal growth. The follow-up ranged from 11 to 41 years, with an average of 23.4 years. At the end of growth, 22 of our 26 patients did not show any deformity of the involved limb. At follow-up, four of 26 patients showed shortening and angular deformity of the affected limb. Irreversible damage of the growth plate, due either to the extreme virulence of the pathogen or to inappropriate surgical treatment, was responsible for the deformities.