van Ooij A, Manni J J, Beuls E A, Walenkamp G H
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University Hospital Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 1999 Mar 15;24(6):574-7. doi: 10.1097/00007632-199903150-00015.
A case report of cervical spondylodiscitis after removal of a lodged fishbone.
To present a rare case of cervical spondylodiscitis and to inform the readers that a lodged fishbone can give rise to this complication after its removal.
In the literature, only one mention of this complication was found.
The literature, clinical presentation, technical examinations, and treatment are reviewed.
Prolonged antibiotic treatment and immobilization of the cervical spine resulted in a cure of the spondylodiscitis.
After removal of a lodged fishbone, a cervical spondylodiscitis is possible, but this is a very rare complication. In this patient, conservative treatment resulted in a cure of the infection. Successive magnetic resonance imaging investigations showed the extent of the destruction of the vertebral bodies and disc very well, as well as the curation of the spondylodiscitis after 5 months.
