title: Delayed infection 6 years after spinal instrumentation: a case report.
abstract: Infection is the major and important complication of spinal instrumentation generally requiring removal of the implant. Although findings of infection usually appear within a few months after operation, they may appear even after few years in some cases. A case with delayed postoperative infection 6 years after surgery is reported. A 27-year-old female with purulent flow from her anterolateral skin incision scar was diagnosed as delayed spinal infection 6 years after anterior and posterior combined spinal instrumentation performed for treatment of giant cell tumor of L3 vertebral body. Staphylococcus aureus was detected from purulent flow. Infection was treated by removal of the implant and antibiotherapy. Spinal infection after instrumentation may appear even a few years later. Patients must therefore be carefully followed for a long time. Staphylococcus aureus can stay silent for a long time.
authors.affiliation: Vakif Gureba Eğitim Hastanesi, Noröşirürji, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Erhan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Emel
authors.forename: Feyza
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Karagöz Güzey
authors.forename: Deniz
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Güzey
authors.forename: Hakan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Seyithanoğlu
authors.forename: Bariş
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sel
authors.forename: Ibrahim
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Alataş
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001860:Bone Plates; D005260:Female; D018212:Giant Cell Tumor of Bone / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures; D019919:Prosthesis Implantation; D011859:Radiography; D013125:Spinal Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery; D013131:Spine / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology / Q000382:microbiology; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*