British Journal of Hospital Medicine (BJHM) is published by IMR Press from Volume 87 Issue 1 (2026). Previous articles were published by another publisher under the hybrid model (CC-BY-NC license or on a subscription basis), and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement.
Acute musculoskeletal infection in children: assessment and management
Mark C Sykes 1, Aashish K Ahluwalia 2
, Daniel Hay 1, James Dalrymple 2, Gregory B Firth 3
, Daniel Hay 1, James Dalrymple 2, Gregory B Firth 3Affiliations
Article Info
1 Trauma and Orthopaedics Department, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK
2 Trauma and Orthopaedics Department, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
3 Trauma and Orthopaedics Department, The Royal London Hospital, Barts Health NHS Trust, London, UK
Correspondence to: Aashish K Ahluwalia; Aashish.ahluwalia2@nhs.net
Abstract
Musculoskeletal infection in children is challenging to treat, and includes septic arthritis, deep tissue infection, osteomyelitis, discitis and pyomyositis. Delays to diagnosis and management, and under-treatment can be life-threatening and result in chronic disability. The British Orthopaedic Association Standards for Trauma include critical steps in the timely diagnosis and management of acute musculoskeletal infection in children, the principles of acute clinical care and the service delivery requirements to appropriately manage this cohort of patients. Orthopaedic and paediatric services are likely to encounter cases of acute musculoskeletal infection in children and thus an awareness and thorough understanding of the British Orthopaedic Association Standards for Trauma guidelines is essential. This article reviews these guidelines and associated published evidence for the management of children with acute musculoskeletal infection.
Keywords
- BOAST guidelines
- Microbiology
- Musculoskeletal infection
- Orthopaedics
- Paediatrics