Post-Operative Infections in Spine Procedures: A Brief Review

Background and Aim: Surgical site infection is an important complication after spinal surgery. Prevention and treatment of this complication requires more and reliable information. In this article, we investigated the epidemiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of post-operative infection in spine procedures by reviewing previous related studies. Methods and Materials/Patients: In this paper, original articles available in PubMed and Scopus published between 1991 and 2017 were reviewed and studied. Results: Organisms resistant to antibiotics have increased and made treatment harder, especially in patients with instrumentation of spine. The frequency of surgical site infection depends on surgical technique, anatomical location, and duration of surgery. Conclusion: Prevention is the best way to reduce the frequency of post-spinal surgical infection. Excessive use of antibiotics increases the risk of infection with bacteria resistant to treatment.