Is Early Surgical Intervention Necessary for Acute Neonatal Humeral Epiphyseal Osteomyelitis: A Retrospective Study of 31 Patients.

Surgical treatment for neonatal humeral epiphyseal osteomyelitis demonstrated significantly higher rates of positive culture for the pathogen, a shorter course of intravenous oral antibiotics, and lower incidence of growth abnormality than conservative treatment. In our institution, most of culture outcome Gram-positive bacteria, and early surgical treatment was recommended with better outcome than delayed surgical group. Empirical antibiotics should be tailored to the epidemiological characteristics of local virulent bacteria.