Infected Charcot spine

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.