Seventeen patients with haematogenous osteomyelitis and long diaphyseal sequestra are reported. Treatment was incision and drainage with antibiotics for at least 6 to 8 weeks, the limb being protected in plaster for a long time. The sequestra became incorporated in every case. Sequestrectomy should only be undertaken when successive radiographs show no reduction in size of the sequestrum and an increase in the amount of the involucrum.