Three-Staged Surgical Strategy as a Combined Approach for Multilevel Cervical Pyogenic Spondylodiscitis

Cervical pyogenic spondylodiscitis is rare but can lead to severe clinical problems that often require aggressive surgical treatment for neurological deterioration and life-threatening conditions. Although combined surgical procedures are often utilized to treat multilevel cervical regions, there is a clinical debate regarding the appropriate order and timing of surgeries using the anterior and posterior approaches. Here, we report a case of severe multilevel cervical pyogenic spondylodiscitis treated using a three-staged surgical strategy consisting of cervical laminectomy, posterior fixation, and anterior corpectomy and fusion with an autologous long bone graft; the outcome was quite favorable. Our report demonstrates the safety and usefulness of three-staged surgery in the multilevel cervical region, especially under urgent situations.