Vertebral osteomyelitis due to infection with nontuberculous Mycobacterium species after blunt trauma to the back: 3 examples of the principle of locus minoris resistentiae.

Osteomyelitis due to infection with nontuberculous mycobacterial organisms is unusual, especially in the absence of nonpenetrating trauma. We describe 3 patients with vertebral osteomyelitis due to infection with nontuberculous mycobacterial organisms that was precipitated by blunt trauma; these 3 unusual cases illustrate the principle of locus minoris resistentiae.