Osteomyelitis of the zygomatic bone: A case report

Abstract Osteomyelitis is an inflammatory condition of bone involving the medullary cavity, the Haversian system, and the adjacent cortex. A review of the literature shows that the mandible is the most commonly involved facial bone. Because the maxillary bone has a better blood supply, the incidence of osteomyelitis is less. 1 Adekeye et al observed that although fractures of maxilla are a common occurrence, they are seldomly involved by osteomyelitis. 1 In the recent past, only one case of maxillary osteomyelitis secondary to trauma was reported. 2 Zygomatic bone osteomyelitis also is an extremely rare occurrence. Adekeye et al published a review of 141 cases of osteomyelitis of the jaws and reported the incidence of malar bone osteomyelitis to be only 1.42%. 1 Cutchavaree et al 3 and Gupta et al 4 in the past decade reported single cases of zygomatic bone osteomyelitis. In this article, another case of osteomyelitis of a fractured zygomatic bone resulting from improper immobilization is reported.