Nosocomial spondylodiscitis after intradiscal electrothermal therapy: Case series

Intradiscal electrothermal therapy (IDET) is a method applied for treatment of pain caused by the disc and involves reaching spinal disc through a catheter under fluoroscopy and solidifying disc interior by heating. We retrospectively evaluated ten patients treated and followed up with diagnosis of nosocomial spondylodiscitis after IDET. Ten patients, to whom IDET was applied for low back pain treatment in a tertiary healthcare organization, came with complaints of fever and low back pain during postoperative process. Appropriate antibiotics treatment was commenced after the reproduction of Pseudomonas aeruoginosa in abscess culture.Even though spondylodiscitis developing after IDET is a rare complication, it is also a clinical condition that needs to be thought in the patients whose complaints increase and clinically do not recover after the procedure. Adherence to rules of the asepsis will reduce the frequency of infection as in all nosocomial infections.