Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2009 Dec;39(12):845-8.
doi: 10.1111/j.1445-5994.2009.02052.x.

Spontaneous spinal infections in older people

C Hutchinson  1 , C Hanger, T Wilkinson, R Sainsbury, A Pithie
Affiliations
Case Reports

Spontaneous spinal infections in older people

C Hutchinson et al. Intern Med J. 2009 Dec.

Abstract

Back pain is common in the elderly. Spinal infection is a rare, but possibly increasing, cause. We describe a retrospective case note review of 41 patients aged 65 years and over with spontaneous spinal infections over a 6-year period. The incidence was 9.8/100,000/year. Staphylococcus aureus was the most common isolate. The mean time from symptom onset to diagnosis was 34 days. Most patients presented with back pain and elevated CRP. Differentiation between discitis and other spinal infections does not appear to be important, as clinical characteristics and outcomes are similar.

PubMed Disclaimer