Beware of Brucella Spondylitis Following Vertebroplasty: An Unusual Case of Osteoporotic Vertebral Compression Fracture

There are two main types of infectious spondylitis reported in literature following kyphoplasty or vertebroplasty: tuberculous spondylitis and pyogenic spondylitis; no cases of Brucella spondylitis have been reported to date. We present a unique case of Brucella spondylitis with intraspinal abscess following vertebroplasty. The patient suffered from osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture (OVCF) of the L4 vertebra and received vertebroplasty; he ate mutton while traveling in the epidemic area a week before vertebroplasty. Two weeks after the procedure, the patient had recurrent low back pain and was finally diagnosed with Brucella spondylitis around the L4 vertebra four months later. This case report provides a warning that eating any undercooked food that may cause bacteremia—especially in orthopedic patients with joint or osseous abnormalities and especially those with intraosseous devices or injected substances.