Y Suda1, M Saito, M Shioda, H Kato, K Shibasaki. 1. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, National Hospital Organization, Murayama Medical Center, Tokyo, Japan.
Abstract
STUDY DESIGN: Case report of an infected Charcot spine following spinal cord injury. OBJECTIVE: To describe this very rare pathological condition and the results of surgical treatment. SETTING: A department of orthopaedic surgery in Japan. METHODS: A 44-year-old man presented with a destructive lesion in the lumbo-sacral spine and a fistula in his back. Anterior bone graft, percutaneous external spinal fixation, and suction/irrigation of the wound were performed. After 4 months, posterior spinal instrumentation surgery was carried out. RESULTS: Primary closure of the fistula and complete bone fusion was achieved after the operation. CONCLUSION: Infection of a Charcot spine, although a rare clinical entity, should be considered as a diagnostic possibility in the spinal cord-injured patients. External spinal fixation is a useful method for the unstable spinal lesion with infection.
STUDY DESIGN: Case report of an infected Charcot spine following spinal cord injury. OBJECTIVE: To describe this very rare pathological condition and the results of surgical treatment. SETTING: A department of orthopaedic surgery in Japan. METHODS: A 44-year-old man presented with a destructive lesion in the lumbo-sacral spine and a fistula in his back. Anterior bone graft, percutaneous external spinal fixation, and suction/irrigation of the wound were performed. After 4 months, posterior spinal instrumentation surgery was carried out. RESULTS: Primary closure of the fistula and complete bone fusion was achieved after the operation. CONCLUSION:Infection of a Charcot spine, although a rare clinical entity, should be considered as a diagnostic possibility in the spinal cord-injured patients. External spinal fixation is a useful method for the unstable spinal lesion with infection.