Table 2.
Demographic and clinical characteristics of patients aged more or less than 5 years.
| Aged <5 years | Aged >5 years | p-value a | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total sample—no. | 26b | 22b | |
| Tubercular PSD—no. | 0 (0%) | 6 (27%) | 0.006 |
| Age (years)—median (range) | 1.6 (0.3–4.2) | 13.1 (6.3–17.7) | <0.001 |
| Sex—no. (%) | |||
| Male | 11 (42%) | 12 (55%) | 0.563 |
| Female | 15 (58%) | 10 (45%) | - |
| Male to female ratio | 1:1.3 | 1.2:1 | - |
| Clinical presentation | |||
| Back pain | 10 (38%) | 10 (45%) | 0.770 |
| Coxalgia | 2 (8%) | 3 (14%) | 0.649 |
| Limp | 5 (19%) | 0 (0%) | - |
| Other | 9 (35%) | 9 (41%) | 0.768 |
| Fever | 11 (42%) | 11 (50%) | 0.772 |
| Pain/tenderness | 26 (100%) | 20 (91%) | 0.205 |
| History of trauma | 4 (15%) | 4 (18%) | 0.548 |
| Comorbidities at presentation | 9 (35%) | 9 (41%) | 0.768 |
| Time to admission (days)—median (range) | 20 (5–111) | 28 (2–148) | 0.175 |
| Blood parameters | |||
| White blood cells—mean (SD) | 12066 (3922) | 10144 (4366) | 0.119 |
| Neutrophils %—mean (SD) | 0.44 (0.14) | 0.67 (0.14) | <0.001 |
| ESR (mm/h)—mean (SD) | 43 (26) | 44 (27) | 0.899 |
| CRP (mg/dl)—median (range) | 1.5 (0–30.7) | 3.2 (0.1–16.3) | 0.028 |
| IgA (g/l)—median (range) | 0.76 (0.1–2.01) | 1.75 (0.79–7.34) | <0.001 |
| IgG (g/l)—median (range) | 9.7 (2.3–14.7) | 10.9 (8.5–34.6) | 0.025 |
| IgM (g/l)—mean (SD) | 1.07 (0.46) | 1.14 (0.52) | 0.665 |
| Microbiological positivity (overall) | 6 (23%) | 10 (45%) | 0.131 |
| Blood culture | 2 (33%) | 4 (40%) | 0.392 |
| Bone biopsy | 0 (0%) | 4 (40%) | - |
| PCR assay | 0 (0%) | 1 (10%) | - |
| Others | 4 (67%) | 1 (10%) | 0.357 |
| Aetiology | |||
| S.aureus | 1 (17%) | 4 (40%) | 0.165 |
| M.tuberculosis | 0 (0%) | 5 (50%) | 0.006 |
| K.kingae | 4 (66%) | 0 (0%) | 0.114 |
| S.intermedius | 0 (0%) | 1 (10%) | - |
| M.catarrhalis & H.influenzaec | 1 (17%) | 0 (0%) | - |
| Radiological imaging | |||
| X-ray | 25 (96%) | 18 (81%) | 0.165 |
| Ultrasound of hip joint | 3 (12%) | 1 (45%) | 0.614 |
| CT-scan | 7 (27%) | 11 (50%) | 0.138 |
| MRI | 25 (96%) | 21 (95%) | 0.712 |
| Scintigraphy | 12 (46%) | 11 (50%) | 0.509 |
| Biopsy | 2 (8%) | 8 (36%) | 0.029 |
| Perilesional cellulitis/myositis | 5 (19%) | 2 (9%) | 0.429 |
| Soft-tissue abscess | 7 (27%) | 9 (41%) | 0.366 |
| Site of infection (vertebral region) | |||
| Cervical | 1 (4%) | 2 (9%) | 0.587 |
| Thoracic | 2 (8%) | 3 (14%) | 0.649 |
| Thoraco-lumbar | 2 (8%) | 2 (9%) | 0.629 |
| Lumbar | 12 (46%) | 9 (41%) | 0.776 |
| Lumbo-sacral | 8 (31%) | 4 (18%) | 0.505 |
| Sacral | 1 (4%) | 2 (9%) | 0.587 |
| IV therapy (days)—median (range) | 28 (9–64) | 28 (0–87) | 0.885 |
| <14 days | 1 (4%) | 3 (14%) | 0.320 |
| >14 days | 25 (96%) | 19 (86%) | - |
| OS therapy (days)—median (range) | 23 (0–43) | 28 (5–526) | 0.192 |
| <14 days | 6 (23%) | 4 (21%) | 0.735 |
| >14 days | 20 (77%) | 18 (69%) | - |
| Total antibiotic therapy (days)—median (range) | 49 (28–86) | 54 (21–561) | 0.233 |
| <6 weeks | 25 (96%) | 16 (73%) | 0.038 |
| >6 weeks | 1 (4%) | 6 (27%) | - |
| Hospitalization (days)—median (range) | 31 (14–265) | 30 (13–91) | 0.836 |
| Follow-up (months)—median (range) | 13 (0–60) | 12 (1–40) | 0.488 |
| Sequelaed | 4 (10%) | 5 (83%) | 0.713 |
a
Comparison between patients with or without tPSD.
b
Data were calculated accounting for missing values.
c
Isolated from hypopharyngeal aspirate.
d
Mainly kyphosis (n = 5) and scoliosis (n = 2), followed by rigidity (n = 1) and gibbus (n = 1).
Bold values are highlight the most significant ones in terms of absolute value.