Spondylodiscitis surgery
Required in only ≈ 25% of cases.
Indications for surgery
Approaches
● anterior approaches: generally used in the cervical or thoracic regions. Removes some or most of the offending infected tissue
○ cervical spine: anterior discectomy and fusion for limited involvement; corpectomy with strut graft and plating with posterior instrumentation (360° fusion) for more extensive involvement
○ thoracic spine: a posterolateral approach (e.g. transpedicular or costotransversectomy approach) or lateral approach (e.g. trans-thoracic or retro-coelomic) may be used
● posterior laminectomy
○ may be used in the lumbar region (below the conus medullaris)
○ ✖ laminectomy alone is not appropriate in the thoracic or cervical spine when it is anterior compression of the spinal cord.