Musculoskeletal melioidosis-a retrospective review of 22 cases from a tertiary care centre in South Tamilnadu

A retrospective review of culture confirmed musculoskeletal melioidosis reported between December 2014 and February 2024 was conducted. 22 of 100 patients with culture proven melioidosis infection had musculoskeletal involvement. Median age was 47 years with 95.4 % being males. Osteomyelitis, septic arthritis and septic arthritis along with adjacent osteomyelitis were observed in 12, 9 and 4 cases respectively. All isolates were susceptible to meropenem and susceptible increased exposure to ceftazidime, doxycycline and cotrimoxazole. Twelve patients underwent surgical procedures. Four patients who died due to septicemia had multisystem involvement with positive blood cultures.