A case of systemic brucellosis with spondylodiscitis mimicking postoperative spondylodiscitis after lumbar disc surgery

Efficacy of posterior fixation and bone graft fusion for treatment of lumbar brucellosis spondylitis

The purpose of this study is to verify whether early stage patients with single-segment lumbar Brucella spondylitis can still be cured through simple posterior fixation and bone grafting, even without debridement. A retrospective study was conducted on 63 patients diagnosed with single-segment lumbar brucellosis spondylitis, who underwent posterior-only debridement (or not), bone grafting, and instrumentation from June 2016 to June 2019. Group A comprised 34 patients who did not undergo debridement, while group B comprised 29 patients who underwent debridement. The clinical data and imaging results of the patients were compared between the 2 groups to evaluate the clinical effects of debridement or not. Both groups of patients completed at least 1 year of follow-up. The group A had significantly lower values for operation time, blood loss, and hospital stay compared to the group B (P < .05). There were no significant differences between the 2 groups in terms of erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, visual analogue scores, improvement of Japanese Orthopaedic Association Evaluation of treatment score, and Cobb angle. The bone fusion rate was 92% (31 patients) in group A and 96% (28 patients) in group B, with no significant difference between the 2 groups (P > .05). In summary, these findings suggest that posterior fixation and bone graft fusion are effective treatments for single-segment lumbar brucellosis spondylitis in early stages even without debridement. Importantly, these procedures offer several benefits, such as minimal trauma, short operation times, rapid postoperative recovery, and favorable bone graft fusion outcomes.