Espondilodiscitis cervical tardía secundaria a ántrax nucal

Fundamento: La espondilodiscitis es un proceso infeccioso del cuerpo vertebral y del disco intervertebral. Presenta una etiología multifactorial y requiere un abordaje multidisciplinario. El menor número corresponde a la columna cervical. El tratamiento quirúrgico se sugiere en pacientes con defecto neurológico, deformidad y fallo de la terapia conservadora. Objetivo: Describir las características clínicas, radiológicas y el tratamiento quirúrgico de un paciente con espondilodiscitis cervical. Presentación del caso: Paciente masculino de 48 años con antecedentes de diabetes mellitus tipo 2. Presentó ántrax nucal y fue tratado con antimicrobianos. Al año volvió a consulta con entumecimiento en el brazo derecho, que luego se generalizó hacia las otras extremidades. Se diagnosticó espondilodiscitis cervical a nivel C6-C7. Se decidió aplicar tratamiento quirúrgico mediante corporectomia de C6 y C7, con injerto tricortical de cresta ilíaca, y colocar placa de titanio desde C5 a D1. Se aisló Staphylococcus aureus en el disco intervertebral, por lo cual se trató con antibiótico específico durante 6 semanas. Conclusiones: La espondilodiscitis cervical es la infección espinal de más baja incidencia. Su aparición tardía en un paciente inmunocompetente después de una infección de piel, resulta muy inusual. El manejo quirúrgico mediante descompresión y fijación con lámina y tornillos de titanio, junto con el tratamiento antibiótico, resultó en una excelente evolución posoperatoria.

Instroduction: Spondylodiscitis is an infectious process of the vertebral body and the intervertebral disc. It has multifactorial etiology which requires a multidisciplinary approach. The smallest number corresponds to the cervical spine. Surgical treatment is suggested in patients with neurological defect, deformity and failure of conservative therapy. Objective: To describe the clinical and radiological characteristics and the surgical treatment of a patient with cervical spondylodiscitis. Case report: We report the case of a 48-year-old male patient with a history of type II diabetes mellitus. He presented nuchal anthrax and he was treated with antimicrobials. A year later, he returned to the consultation with numbness in his right arm and later it spread to the other extremities. Cervical spondylodiscitis is diagnosed at C6-C7 level. It was decided to apply surgical treatment by C6 and C7 corporectomy with iliac crest tricortical graft and place a titanium plate from C5 to D1. Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from the intervertebral disc and specific antibiotic treatment was continued for 6 weeks. Conclusions: Cervical spondylodiscitis is the spinal infection with the lowest incidence. Its late appearance in an immunocompetent patient after a skin infection is highly unusual. Surgical management by means of decompression and fixation with blade and titanium screws, together with antibiotic treatment, resulted in an excellent postoperative evolution.

Artritis facetaria séptica en paciente joven sin factores de riesgo

Se reporta el caso de un varón de 22 años que presentó lumbalgia aguda grave sin respuesta a los analgésicos comunes. El estudio por resonancia magnética mostró un proceso inflamatorio en la articulación facetaria T8-T9 y una pequeña colección epidural. Se realizó drenaje con aguja bajo control tomográfico y el cultivo de la muestra aisló Streptococcus agalactiae. El paciente evolucionó en forma favorable a la terapia antibiótica administrada, penicilina G sódica intravenosa durante tres semanas y otros betalactámicos oral por 4 semanas. La infección piógena de las articulaciones facetarias es rara.

Spinal epidural abscess caused by Streptococcus agalactiae in an immunocompetent patient. / Absceso epidural espinal por Streptococcus agalactiae en un paciente inmunocompetente.

BACKGROUND: Streptococcus agalactiae is an uncommon microorganism that causes spinal epidural abscess (SEA) and usually affects individuals with a predisposing condition or potential source of infection. CASE DESCRIPTION: We present the case of an immunocompetent 53-year-old patient with an unremarkable past medical history who developed progressive low extremity weakness, bowel and bladder dysfunction and genital sensory impairment. A neurological exam on admission revealed flaccid proximal paraparesis, T10 sensory level, atonic anal sphincter and normal myotatic reflexes. Urgent neuroimaging showed a large thoracic epidural spinal abscess. Laminectomy and abscess drainage were immediately performed and systemic antibiotic treatment was initiated. Abscess cultures revealed Streptococcus agalactiae. After an exhaustive workup no predisposing factors or local or systemic source for the infection were found. CONCLUSIONS: We report a singular case of spinal epidural abscess caused by Streptococcus agalactiae in a healthy patient with no predisposing factors. This case also highlights the importance of an early diagnosis and treatment to obtain a better neurological outcome.

Vancomicina tópica en la prevención de infecciones tempranas en cirugías instrumentadas espinales: serie de casos y revisión de la literatura / Topical vancomycin in the prevention of early infections in instrumented spinal surgeries: case series and literature review

Objetivo: Evaluar la eficacia de la vancomicina tópica en la disminución de las infecciones tempranas (agudas y subagudas) en cirugías de columna instrumentadas por vía posterior. Material y métodos: Se realizó un estudio observacional, multicéntrico, retrospectivo, descriptivo y comparativo de 125 pacientes con cirugías instrumentadas de columna torácica o lumbar operados entre abril y agosto del 2016. En 68 casos se colocó 1 gr de vancomicina tópica, y en 57 no, en forma no aleatorizada, según la preferencia de cada cirujano. Se realizó un seguimiento clínico durante los primeros 90 días postquirúrgicos en pesquisa de signos de infección. Se analizó mediante el programa SPSS versión 24 la estadística inferencial utilizando el test estadístico de Chi2 para la comparación de variables cualitativas entre ambos grupos y para comparación de medias de variables cuantitativas el test estadístico t de Student. La edad media fue de 45,2 años, mientras que 60,8 eran del sexo masculino. El 23% fueron operados de un nivel, 41,6% de dos, 12% de tres y el resto de más niveles. Resultados: La prevalencia para infección de herida quirúrgica fue de 1.5% en el grupo que recibió vancomicina y de 5.3% en el grupo control (p 0,24). Los factores asociados a la presentación de infecciones fueron la edad, las instrumentaciones de más de 6 niveles y la prolongación del tiempo quirúrgico con valores positivos para Chi2, aunque no se pudieron determinar valores de p para significancia estadística. Conclusión: Las infecciones tempranas en instrumentaciones de columna de nuestra serie mostraron una disminución asociada a la aplicación de vancomicina tópica en el cierre del lecho quirúrgico, aunque esta diferencia no fue estadísticamente significativa.

Objective: To assess the efficacy of vancomycin powder to decrease the incidence of infections following instrumented posterior spine surgery. Materials and methods: An observational, multicenter case-cohort study was performed involving 125 patients undergoing instrumented thoracic and lumbar spine surgery between April and August 2016. Mean patient age was 45.2 years and 60.8% were male. The most prevalent condition was degenerative spine disease (62.4%). In a non-randomized way, 1g of vancomycin was administered topically to 68 patients, while the remaining 57 patients received no antibiotic treatment. Patients were followed for three months post-operatively. Patients who received and did not receive Vancomycin were statistically compared, using Pearson χ2 analysis or Fisher's Exact tests for categorical variables and unpaired Student's t tests for continuous variables. All analyses were two-tailed, with p ≤ 0.05 set as the criterion for statistical significance. Results: The incidence of surgical site infections was 5.3% among controls and 1.5% in those administered vancomycin (p = 0.24). No other inter-group differences ­ between the two treatment groups or between those with versus without an infection ­ were significant. Conclusions: The incidence of early surgical-site infections, both acute and subacute, was three-fold less in those given vancomycin powder; however, this difference was not statistically significant.

[Role of surgery in spontaneous spondylodiscitis: Experience in 83 consecutive patients]. / Papel de la cirugía en el tratamiento de las espondilodiscitis espontáneas: experiencia en 83 casos consecutivos.

OBJECTIVE: To describe and discuss the role of surgery in the management of spontaneous spondylodiscitis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Retrospective review on the outcome and complications of a cohort of patients undergoing surgery for spontaneous (non-postoperative) spondylodiscitis of any spinal level or aetiology. RESULTS: From 1995 to 2014, 83 patients (45% females, median age 66) with spondylodiscitis were treated. Microbiological confirmation was obtained in 67.4%. Forty-four percent of patients presented with neurological defect. The most common affected level was thoracic (54.2%). The most frequent isolations were Mycobacterium tuberculosis (229%), Staphylococcus aureus (20.5%) and MRSA (7.2%). Eighty-one patients underwent surgery: simple laminectomy and/or biopsy (22.2%), debridement and posterior fixation (43.2%) and debridement and anterior fixation (34.5%). Improvement of pain or neurological defect was achieved in 86.7% of the patients; 7 patients stabilized and 2 worsened. Complications occurred in 35 patients, mainly pleural effusion (9), anaemia (7) and need for re-debridement (7). Median postoperative stay was 14days. After a median follow up of 8.5 months, 46 patients were considered completely cured, 10 presented sequelae, 22 patients were lost and 5 patients died. No readmissions occurred because of the infectious episode. CONCLUSIONS: Although prolonged and specific antibiotic therapy remains the mainstay of treatment in spontaneous spondylodiscitis, surgery provides samples for microbiological confirmation and histopathologic study, allows debridement of the infectious foci and stabilizes the spine. In our experience, the use of internal metallic fixation material accelerates recovery and does not predispose to chronic infection.