Spontaneous Spinal Infections: Diagnostic and Therapeutic Management. The experience of Neurosurgery department of University of Rome “Sapienza”

Spinal infectious disease has an incidence ranging from 0.5 to 5% [1]. The spondylodiscitis or, more generally, osteomyelitis, represents the most common spinal infection. This is an inflammatory process that may involve the vertebral body, the posterior elements, the intersomatic space, the epidural space, the paraspinal soft tissues and secondly the meninges or spinal cord. These structures can be involved individually or together in the same patient. These nosological entities, if not properly and early treated, can lead to significant and dramatic consequences such as permanent paralysis or other neurological sequelae and spinal deformity. With the advent of antibiotics, with the improvement of management techniques and especially with early identification of the disease, the mortality associated with spinal infections decreased significantly, with a mortality rate of less than 5% in developing countries [34].