The technetium phosphate bone scan in the diagnosis of osteomyelitis in childhood.

We reviewed the technetium phosphate scans of 280 patients who had been referred with a clinical diagnosis of osteomyelitis in order to establish the diagnostic accuracy of this procedure. Strict criteria were established to define two subgroups: one of patients with proved osteomyelitis and one of patients who definitely did not have osteomyelitis. The scan correctly identified osteomyelitis at fifty-five of sixty-two sites, and was correctly negative in seventy-four of seventy-nine patients without osteomyelitis. The scan correctly distinguished all cases of cellulitis or soft-tissue abscess from osteomyelitis, but identified osteomyelitis in eight of thirty-nine patients with septic arthritis. The phosphate bone scan maintained this accuracy through any duration of symptoms, and performed almost equally well at all skeletal sites and in all age groups.