Pyogenic Lumbar Spondylodiscitis Treated by Percutaneous Transforaminal Endoscopic Procedure:A Case Report

Case Report

Korean J Spine 2004;1(2): 277-281.

Seung-Jin Choi, M.D., Cheol Ji, M.D., Jae-Geun Ahn, M.D.,Hyun-Chul Choi, M.D. and Moon-Chan Kim, M.D.

Pyogenic Lumbar Spondylodiscitis Treated by Percutaneous Transforaminal Endoscopic Procedure:A Case Report

Seung-Jin Choi^, M.D.^, Cheol Ji^, M.D.^, Jae-Geun Ahn^, M.D.^,Hyun-Chul Choi^, M.D. and Moon-Chan Kim^, M.D.

Department of Neurosurgery, St. Paul's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul,

Abstract

Pyogenic spondylodiscitis is generally a serious condition and has not been extricated yet from troublesomeness of the mana- gement in many cases. The authors report a successful experience of percutaneous endoscopic debridement and irrigation performed for a patient who had medically-uncontrollable pyogenic lumbar spondylodiscitis of L2-3 level infected by Serratia liquefaciens. He showed great improvement of laboratory findings just after operation and back pain over a follow-up period of postoperative 12 months. Even though there is variability for the choice of treatment according to case by case, the authors suggest that minimally invasive percutaneous endoscopic procedure can be adopted with many advantages for selected cases of pyogenic spondylodiscitis.

Keywords: Pyogenic spondylodiscitisㆍSerratia liquefaciensㆍPercutaneous transforaminal endoscopic procedureㆍand Debridement irrigation