Spinal epidural abscess due to coinfection of bacteria and tuberculosis: A case report

paythelady.612 shared this article with you from Inoreader Spinal epidural abscess due to coinfection of bacteria and tuberculosis: A case report Μέσω pubmed: "world j clin cases"... World J Clin Cases. 2021 Jun 6;9(16):4072-4080. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i16.4072. ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Spinal epidural abscess (SEA) is a rare condition that mostly results from infection with either bacteria or tuberculosis. However, coinfection with bacteria and tuberculosis is extremely rare, and it results in delays in diagnosis and antimicrobial treatment causing unfavorable outcomes. CASE SUMMARY: A 75-year-old female visited the hospital with low back pain, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed an SEA at the lumbosacral segment. Staphylococcus hominis and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis were identified from preoperative blood culture and intraoperative abscess culture, respectively. Thus, the patient underwent treatment with vancomycin medication for 9 wk after surgical drainage of the SEA. However, the low back pain recurred 2 wk after vancomycin treatment. MRI revealed an aggravated S EA in the same area in addition to erosive destruction of vertebral bodies. Second surgery was performed for SEA removal and spinal instrumentation. The microbiological study and pathological examination confirmed Mycobacterium tuberculosis as the pathogen concurrent with the bacterial SEA. The patient improved completely after 12 mo of antitubercular medication. CONCLUSION: We believe that the identification of a certain pathogen in SEAs does not exclude coinfection with other pathogens. Tubercular coinfection should be suspected if an SEA does not improve despite appropriate antibiotics for the identified pathogen. PMID:34141768 | PMC:PMC8180206 | DOI:10.12998/wjcc.v9.i16.4072 View on the web Inoreader. Take back control of your news feed. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.