Meningitis after spinal injury surgery

Abstract

Postoperative meningitis is quite rare in the practice of a spine surgeon and, as a rule, is associated with unintentional damage to the dura mater or necessary durotomy. According to a number of researchers, emergency interventions, severe spinal cord injury, prolonged preoperative stay in intensive care, diabetes mellitus, obesity, smoking, and age over 65 are risk factors for the development of postoperative meningitis in spinal injury surgery. The development of postoperative meningitis lengthens the time of hospitalization, requires prolonged antibacterial therapy, and significantly deteriorates the outcome of surgical treatment, which determines the relevance and significance of studying this issue. The article presents our own experience of 12 cases of patients with meningitis after spinal injury surgery, which accounted for 0.6 % of all interventions.