Anterior radical
debridement and
bone grafting is popular in the treatment of pyogenic
infection of the spine, but there remains great concern of placing instrumentation in the presence of
infection because of the potentiality of
infection recurrence after surgery. The objective of this study was to prospectively evaluate the efficacy and safety of anterior instrumentation in patients who underwent simultaneous anterior
debridement and autogenous
bone grafting for the treatment of pyogenic vertebral
osteomyelitis. The series consisted of 22 consecutive patients who were treated with anterior
debridement, interbody fusion with autogenous
bone grafting and anterior instrumentation for pyogenic vertebral
osteomyelitis of thoracic and lumbar spine. The patients were prospectively followed up for a minimum of 3 years (average 46.1 months; range 36-74 months). Data were obtained for assessing clinically the neurological function and
pain and radiologically the spinal alignment and fusion progress as well as recurrence of the
infection. All the patients experienced complete or significant relief of
back pain with rapid improvement of neurological function.
Kyphosis was improved with an average correction rate of 93.1% (range 84-100%). Solid fusion and healing of the
infection was achieved in all the patients without any evidence of recurrent or residual
infection. The study shows that combined with perioperative
antibiotic regimen, anterior instrumentation is effective and safe in the treatment of pyogenic vertebral
osteomyelitis of thoracic and lumbar spine directly following radical
debridement and autogenous
bone grafting.