Implant retention after postoperative infection in patients undergoing instrumented spinal fusion

Objective To evaluate the efficacy of surgical and medical management of postoperative infections after instrumented spinal fusion without implant removal. Methods All of 458 patients from the Affiliated Hospital of Binzhou Medical College underwent instrumented spinal fusion, 8 patients(1.75%) were identified as postoperative infections, all of them were treated by our department. Results All patients underwent surgical debridement and received antibiotic therapy without implant removal. Eradication of the infection was successful in all patients. The mean follow-up period was 2.1 years(range 1 to 2.5 y). Conclusion Aggressive surgical debridement and long-term suppressive antibiotic therapy enables infection cure in all patients with postoperative infections after spinal instrumentation with implant retention. Vacuum sealing drainage is used as an adjunct measure. These results show that surgical-site infection(SSI) in the spine can be successfully treated without implant removal.