Methods

Patients treated for IPOS from January 2006 to December 2020 were included. Patient demographics, parameters upon admission and discharge, radiological imaging, and microbiological results were retrieved from medical records. CT and MRI were analyzed for epidural, paravertebral, and intervertebral abscess formation, vertebral destruction, and endplate involvement. Pathogens were identified by CT-guided or intraoperative biopsy, intraoperative tissue sampling, or implant sonication.

Patients and Methods

Clinical features, radiology, results of microbiology, histology, and laboratory investigations in 50 suspected SD patients were evaluated. In 29 patients, the final (i.e. treatment-based) diagnosis was pyogenic SD; in seven patients, the final diagnosis was mycobacterial SD. In pyogenic SD, the neutrophil polymorph (NP) infiltrate was scored semi-quantitatively by determining the mean number of NPs per (×400) high-power field (HPF).

Patients and Methods

A single-centre, interventional, two arm, parallel group randomised controlled trial was undertaken, involving 407 patients who underwent elective spinal surgery.

For 203 patients, the skin was disinfected before surgery using PVI (10% [w/w (1% w/w available iodine)] in 95% industrial denatured alcohol, povidone iodine; Videne Alcoholic Tincture) twice, and for 204 patients using PVI once followed by CHG (2% [w/v] chlorhexidine gluconate in 70% [v/v] isopropyl alcohol; Chloraprep with tint). The primary outcome measure was contamination of the wound determined by aerobic and anaerobic bacterial growth from samples taken after disinfection.