ABSTRACT
Infectious diseases, including infection after surgery, are troublesome problems for orthopedic surgeons. Vertebral osteomyelitis or diskitis is the most common spinal infectious disease, and the most frequent etiologic agent is Staphylococcus aureus (1). Less commonly, organisms such as Eikenella (2), Candida sp. (3), and Bacteroides sp. (4), amongst others may also cause vertebral osteomyelitis. Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Tb) is also an important cause of spinal infection (i.e., Pott’s Disease), especially in developing parts of the world. Nontuberculosis mycobacteria may also cause vertebral osteomyelitis (5). Thus, like most orthopedic infections, a wide variety of organisms can be important pathogens, but most infections are due to S. aureus (6).
