What is the Difference Between Gangrene and Osteomyelitis

The key difference between gangrene and osteomyelitis is that gangrene is a medical condition that causes the death of body tissues due to a lack of blood flow or severe bacterial infection, while osteomyelitis is a medical condition that causes inflammation of the bone due to a bacterial infection starting somewhere else in the body and spreading to the bone or starts in the bone itself.

Diabetic patients have foot wounds. These foot wounds represent a class of non-healing wounds that can often lead to the development of soft tissue infection (gangrene) and osteomyelitis. Gangrene and osteomyelitis are two medical conditions that can be commonly seen in patients who have suffered from diabetes for a long time.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Gangrene 
3. What is Osteomyelitis
4. Similarities – Gangrene and Osteomyelitis
5. Gangrene vs Osteomyelitis in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Gangrene vs Osteomyelitis

What is Gangrene?

Gangrene is a medical condition that causes the death of body tissues. This happens due to a lack of blood flow or a severe bacterial infection. Gangrene primarily affects the arms and legs, including toes and fingers. In rare cases, it occurs in muscles and in organs such as the gallbladder. The signs and symptoms of gangrene may include changes in skin colour (blue, purple, black bronze, or red), swelling, blisters, sudden severe pain, a feeling of numbness in the affected area, a foul-smelling discharge coming out from a sore, thin, shiny skin without hair, and skin that is cold when touched. In severe cases, it can also indicate signs and symptoms such as low blood pressure, fever, rapid heart rate, light-headedness, shortness of breath, and confusion. The risk factors for this condition include diabetes, blood vessel disease, severe injury, smoking, obesity, immunosuppression, injectable drugs, and complications of COVID-19.

Gangrene can be diagnosed through blood tests, fluid or tissue culture tests, imaging tests (CT scan and MRI), and surgery. Furthermore, the treatment options for gangrene may include medications (intravenous antibiotics), surgery or other procedures (debridement, vascular surgery, amputation, and skin grafting), and hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

What is Osteomyelitis?

Osteomyelitis is a medical condition that causes inflammation or swelling of the bone. It is normally due to a bacterial infection that starts somewhere else in the body and spreads to the bone or starts in the bone itself. The symptoms of osteomyelitis are fever, pain, and tenderness in the affected area, irritability in infants, feeling ill, swelling and redness of the affected area, warmth in the affected area, difficulty moving the joints that are near the affected area, a new limp and a stiff back. The risk factors for osteomyelitis include recent injury or orthopaedic surgery, circulation disorders, problems requiring intravenous catheters (dialysis machine tubing), conditions that impair the immune system (cancer treatment), and illicit drugs.

Moreover, osteomyelitis can be diagnosed through physical examinations, blood tests, X-rays, MRIs, CT scans, bone aspiration, and biopsies. Furthermore, treatment options for osteomyelitis include surgery (drain the affected area, remove diseased bone and tissue, restore blood flow to the bone, remove foreign objects and amputate the limb) and medications (antibiotics).

What are the Similarities Between Gangrene and Osteomyelitis?

• Gangrene and osteomyelitis are two medical conditions that can be commonly seen in patients who suffer from diabetes for a longer time.
• They are mainly due to bacterial infections.
• Both conditions may cause complications.
• They can be diagnosed through blood tests and imaging tests.
• They are treated through specific medications such as antibiotics and surgeries.

What is the Difference Between Gangrene and Osteomyelitis?

Gangrene is a medical condition that causes the death of body tissues due to a lack of blood flow or a severe bacterial infection, while osteomyelitis is a medical condition that causes inflammation of the bone which is due to a bacterial infection. Thus, this is the key difference between gangrene and osteomyelitis. Furthermore, the risk factors for gangrene include diabetes, blood vessel disease, severe injury, smoking, obesity, immunosuppression, injectable drugs, and complications of COVID-19. On the other hand, the risk factors for osteomyelitis include recent injury or orthopaedic surgery, circulation disorders, problems requiring intravenous catheters (dialysis machine tubing), conditions that impair the immune system (cancer treatment), and illicit drugs.

The following table summarizes the difference between gangrene and osteomyelitis.

Summary – Gangrene vs Osteomyelitis

Gangrene and osteomyelitis are two medical conditions that are commonly seen in chronic diabetic patients. Both these medical conditions can lead to severe complications. Gangrene causes the death of body tissues due to a lack of blood flow or a severe bacterial infection. In contrast, osteomyelitis causes inflammation of the bone due to a bacterial infection that starts somewhere else in the body and spreads to the bone or starts in the bone itself. So, this is the key difference between gangrene and osteomyelitis.

Reference:

1. “Gangrene: Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention.” WebMD.
2. “Osteomyelitis.” Johns Hopkins Medicine, 8 Aug. 2021.

Image Courtesy:

1. “DMgas gangrene” By Heather Murphy-Lavoie – (CC BY 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “OsteomylitisMark” By James Heilman, MD – Own work (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia