STUDY DESIGN This is a multivariate analysis of a prospectively collected database. OBJECTIVE To determine preoperative, intraoperative, and patient characteristics that contribute to an increased risk of postoperative wound infection in patients undergoing spinal surgery. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA Current literature sites a postoperative infection rate of approximately 4%; however, few ha...

OBJECTIVE We evaluated the effect of intrawound application of vancomycin powder for infection prophylaxis in wounds caused by instrumented spinal surgery. METHODS From July 2012 to December 2012, 74 instrumented spinal fusion procedures were performed by 1 neurosurgeon at a single institute. We divided the patients into 2 groups, depending on the use of local application of vancomycin powder...

Pneumonia is the leading cause of death after acute spinal cord injury and is associated with poor neurological outcome. In contrast to the current understanding, attributing enhanced infection susceptibility solely to the patient's environment and motor dysfunction, we investigate whether a secondary functional neurogenic immune deficiency (spinal cord injury-induced immune deficiency syndrome...

Spinal epidural abscesses are an uncommon cause of spinal cord injury but, depending on the size and presence of neurological deficits, urgent neurosurgical intervention may be required. We present a unique case of a patient presenting with a spinal epidural collection several days after a fall. While a spinal epidural hematoma was suspected based on the patient's history and MRI findings, a sp...

BACKGROUND Surgical site infections are not uncommon following spinal operations, and they can be associated with serious morbidity, mortality, and increased resource utilization. The accurate identification of risk factors is essential to develop strategies to prevent these potentially devastating infections. We conducted a case-control study to determine independent risk factors for surgical ...

IMPORTANCE Injection of contaminated methylprednisolone has resulted in an unprecedented nationwide outbreak of Exserohilum rostratum fungal infections, manifested initially as meningitis and/or basilar stroke. Insidious onset of spinal or paraspinal infection at the injection site has been increasingly reported and is occurring months after receipt of injection with the contaminated drug. The ...

many experimental studies have reported behavioral improvement after transplantation of peripheral nerve tissue into the contused spinal cord, even in large animals. the safety of this treatment in human remains unknown. in this translational phase 1 study, safety of peripheral nerve grafting for chronic spinal cord injuries and possible outcomes are being reported. twelve complete motor spinal...

INTRODUCTION A late-developing infection after an uneventful initial spinal instrumentation procedure is rare. Delayed infection and new fistula formation have been reported from a few months to 13 years. Here we report an unusual 17-year-delayed fistula formation after primary spinal instrumentation. The patient underwent hardware removal surgery with antibiotic therapy as a definitive treatme...