Spinal infection and discitis

A spinal infection is a pathology that occurs when bacteria, fungi or parasites invade certain regions of the spinal column. This pathology can affect the quality of life of patients, so it is important to detect symptoms early to prevent the infection from evolving and treatments from becoming increasingly complex.

What are the symptoms of a spinal infection?

The most common symptoms of a spinal infection are back pain, especially in the lower back, malaise and fever.

In more severe cases, the infection can affect the membranes of the nervous system, which is called meningitis.

What causes an infection?

The causes of a spinal infection can be diverse, such as the spread of micro-organisms through the blood, direct external inoculation, by infiltration or puncture or surgery, or contiguity of nearby tissues.

The main factors for infection during surgery are:

• Duration of surgical time (greater than 3 hours).
• Type of surgical approach (minimally invasive / open)
• Revision surgery
• Use of prosthetic implants

What are the treatments for spinal infection?

Treatment of a spinal infection will depend on the severity of the infection. In milder cases, antibiotics and analgesics may be administered to relieve pain. To this end, it is essential to identify the bacteria or germ causing the infection (through analysis, cultures or sample collection) in order to choose the most effective targeted antibiotic treatment.

In the most severe cases, spinal surgery may be performed on the patient to clean the infection and debride the infected area.

In some cases, if the infection affects only the vertebral disc, it is known as infectious discitis, and if the infection is more extensive and affects the intervertebral disc and the vertebra, it is known as spondylodiscitis.

Treatment of a vertebral infection can last from a few weeks to several months, depending on the severity of the infection and the type of treatment that has been chosen.

How can infection be prevented during spinal surgery?

It is important to note that although the risk of infection in spinal surgery is low, the possibility of post-operative infection is one of the risks that your surgeon will explain to you during your pre-operative visit.

At BSI we help and prepare our patients before, during and after surgery to reduce the risk of infection: preoperative preparation and assessment, prophylactic measures prior to surgery, exhaustive and rigorous patient safety protocols in the operating room and postoperative follow-up.