Osteomyelitis of the pubis in childhood

The pubic bones are rare sites for the development of osteomyelitis in childhood. We report an instance of osteomyelitis of the pubic bones (osteitis pubis) in a 7 1/2 -year-old boy to illustrate the somewhat unusual presentation, the tendency for physicians to be misled into suspecting hip disease, the importance of including the entire pelvis in initial roentgenography for suspected hip disease, and the occasional normal scintiscan in partially treated osteomyelitis.