Acute osteomyelitis and septic arthritis of the shoulder in premature neonates--report of two cases.

Acute hematogenous osteomyelitis and septic arthritis are pyogenic infections of bone and joint, respectively. At the youngest age, they usually occur at the same time--hence the common name "osteoarthritis". When it comes to neonates, osteoarthritis is an infrequent finding, but it can give a permanent disability and can be even fatal unless early recognized and adequately and promptly treated. An early diagnosis is rather challenging because the signs and symptoms of this disease are subtle and/or nonspecific. The therapy involves a combination of intravenous antimicrobial therapy in high doses and of sufficient duration, with a mandatory decompression of affected joint by needle aspiration or artrhrotomy. The aim of this paper is to present two premature newborns with rare localization of osteoarthritis - the humerus and shoulder joint, as well as to point to the modern diagnostic and therapeutic approach to this disease.