TREATMENT OF POSTOPERATIVE WOUND INFECTIONS FOLLOWING SPINAL-FUSION WITH INSTRUMENTATION

Postoperative wound infections following spinal fusion with instrument ation often present diagnostic and therapeutic difficulties. This arti cle reviews 34 such infections. An infection rate of 3.7% was noted. D epending on various clinical indicators, treatment strategies included short-course antibiotics, prolonged intravenous antibiotics, or intra venous antibiotics followed by suppressive antibiotics and eventual ha rdware removal. To eradicate these infections, removal of instrumentat ion is often required; this option, however, may result in an unstable spine. Treatment algorithms were developed for treatment of postopera tive spinal surgical site infections and to minimize the possibility o f spine instability. All patients were cured of their infections.