Several forms of spinal infections exist, including; osteomyelitis, discitis and abscesses. Spinal infection has become a global health concern as prevalence of this disease is rising. Different regions around the world experience increases in incidence over the years. For example, the incidence of spondylodiscitis in South Korea increased from 22.9 in 2010 to 55.79 in 2019 new cases per 100,000 people per year(p<0.05). Also, in Germany, Kramer et al. depicts the increase in incidence of spondylodiscitis is from 5.4 cases in 2005 to 11 cases in 2021 per 100,000 individuals. The rout of infection that is most common for a spinal infection would be through hematogenous spread of a pathogen from a distant site of infection. With this being the case, 95% of the time the region of infection would be the vertebral body, and only 5% for the posterior elements of the spine. Causative organisms include Staphylococcus aureus and its methicillin variant, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Escherichia coli, Haemophilus Influenzae and others. Management can involve conservative management or can get complicated and warrant surgical intervention with a multidisciplinary approach. Some patients would need spinal bracing and extended antibiotic therapy. Once the patient is stable, they can be managed in the community. In order to optimise treatment protocols, it is important to understand the predominant organisms in each region of the spine, hence the purpose of this study. This project is a retrospective review of all spinal infection patients who presented or were referred to the National Spinal Injuries Unit(NSIU) in the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital over a 10 year period. The cohort will be identified through our NSIU database. The data collected will include demographics, referral source, presentation delay, signs, symptoms, predisposing factors, region of spinal involvement, presenting inflammatory markers, bacteriology results, radiologic imaging, therapeutic management, length of stay, and outcome.
