Single-Stage Debridement and Spinal Instrumentation for Salmonella Spondylodiscitis of Thoracic Vertebra

For patients with pyogenic spondylodiscitis, medical therapy with antibiotics is the first line of treatment. Response to antibiotics can be assessed by improvement of symptoms, reduction in inflammatory markers, and radiological evidence of infection resolution with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We report a case of a 60-year-old man who presented with intermittent fever and persistent back pain. He was initially treated with an intravenous antibiotic for sepsis secondary to Salmonella enteritidis bacteremia. His spine MRI showed compression of the T10 vertebra with vertebral abnormality suggestive of metastases. He showed no clinical improvement after a course of intravenous antibiotics. Following that, debridement and spinal instrumentation of the thoracic vertebra were done in single-stage surgery.