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Updated: Aug 20, 2026
In Vivo Mouse Model of Spinal Implant Infection
Published on: June 23, 2020
Incidence and Microbiological Profile of Surgically Treated Surgical Site Infection Following Spine Surgery: A
Takahito Iga1, Toshiki Okubo1, Kazuki Takeda1
1Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
Background:
Surgical site infection following spine surgery remains a major concern. However, long-term surveillance data on its incidence and microbiological characteristics are limited.
Methods:
We reviewed 10,432 consecutive spine surgeries performed from 2010 to 2024. Surgical site infection was defined as a postoperative infection requiring operative irrigation and debridement. Incidence was compared between procedures with and without instrumentation. We also summarized the causative pathogens and compared the three most common pathogen groups: methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus or methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus epidermidis, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Cutibacterium acnes.
Results:
Surgical site infection was identified in 100 of 10,432 procedures (0.96%). The incidence was higher after procedures with instrumentation than after those without instrumentation (67/4,575, 1.46% vs. 33/5,857, 0.56%). Among 67 instrumented infection cases, 18 (26.9%) required partial or complete implant removal. Among instrumented SSI cases, implant removal was performed in 6 of 11 Cutibacterium acnes infections (54.5%). The interval from index surgery to SSI recognition was longest in Cutibacterium acnes infection (median, 297 days; interquartile range, 35-627 days).
Conclusions:
In this 15-year single-center study, surgically treated surgical site infection occurred in about 1% of spine surgeries and was more frequent after procedures with instrumentation. Cutibacterium acnes infection showed a longer interval from index surgery to SSI recognition in this cohort.
