Epidemiology, Clinical Features and Diagnosis of Spondylodiscitis at Assiut University Hospital

The term Spondylodiscitis (SD) involves infection of the vertebra (Spondylitis), infection of the intervertebral disc (Discitis), or both (Spondylodiscitis) Spondylodiscitis is a rare disease accounting for 2.7% of all cases of pyogenic osteomyelitis, with incidence varying from 1 per 100,000/year to 1 per 250,000/year However, there is evidence that the incidence is rising due to longer life expectancy for patients with increasing incidence of chronic debilitating disease including diabetes mellitus, malignancies ,(Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)/ Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDs) , immunosuppressive therapy, increasing numbers of Intravenous drug users , and spinal surgeries.

Pathogens can reach the spine either by: hematogenous spread, direct external inoculation, or spread from contiguous tissues harboring these pathogens. The hematogenous route is the predominant one, allowing seeding of infection from distant sites into the vertebral column.

Since spondylodiscitis has not been studied in a clinical trial at our hospital, and information about this disease has come from retrospective case series and isolated cases. In this study, we present our prospectively collected patient clinical and epidemiological data in order to provide a proper management