Red blood cell distribution width as a potential inflammatory marker in pediatric osteomyelitis

Abstract

Background

Red cell distribution width (RDW) has been used in the differential diagnosis of anemia and revealed to be a potential marker of inflammation.

Method

We conducted a retrospective study of acute-phase reactant changes in correlation with RDW among pediatric patients with osteomyelitis.

Results

We identified 82 patients whose mean RDW increased on average by 1% during antibiotic therapy (mean 13.9% on admission, 95% CI 13.4–14.3, and 14.9% at the end of antibiotic therapy, 95% CI 14.5–15.4). Overall, the RDW was weakly correlated with absolute neutrophil count (r = −0.21, P = 0.001), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (r = −0.17, P = 0.007), and C-reactive protein (r = −0.21, P = 0.001). The generalized estimating equation model showed a weak negative correlation between RDW and C-reactive protein during the therapy duration (B= −0.03, P = 0.008).

Conclusions

The mild increase in RDW, and its weak negative correlation with other acute-phase reactants during the study course, limits its utility as a therapy response marker in pediatric osteomyelitis.

Keywords:

• Anemia
• inflammation
• pediatric osteomyelitis
• red cell distribution width

Disclosure statement/Funding

The authors report no funding or conflicts of interest.

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge the contribution of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Clinical Research Institute for their assistance with this research.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no funding or conflicts of interest.