title: A case of postoperative tuberculous spondylitis with a bizarre course.
abstract: Postoperative infections following spine surgery are usually attributable to bacterial organisms. Staphylococcus aureus is known to be the most common single pathogen leading to this infection, and the number of infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is increasing. However, there is a paucity of literature addressing postoperative infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. We encountered a case of tuberculous spondylitis after spine surgery. A man had fever with low back pain three weeks after posterior interbody fusion with instrumentation for a herniated intervertebral disc at the L4-L5 level. He had been treated with antibiotics for an extended period of time under the impression that he had a bacterial infection, but his symptoms and laboratory data had not improved. Polymerase chain reaction for Mycobacterium tuberculosis turned out to be positive. The patient's symptoms finally improved when he was treated with antituberculosis medication.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Do Whan
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Jeon
authors.forename: Bong-Soon
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Ul Oh
authors.initials: UO
authors.lastname: Jeung
authors.forename: Seuk Jae
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Choon-Ki
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Min-Seok
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Woo-Dong
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Nam
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000209:etiology; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000382:microbiology*; D013166:Spondylitis / Q000209:etiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D013904:Thoracic Vertebrae / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology*; D014399:Tuberculosis, Spinal / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology*