Won Joong Kim1, Soo-Taek Lim1, Sang-Ho Lee2

1Departments of Orthopedics Surgery, Wooridul Spine Hospital, Seoul, Korea
2Departments of Neurosurgery, Wooridul Spine Hospital, Seoul, Korea

Keywords: Discitis/complications; Escherichia coli infections/ complications; lumbar vertebrae/pathology/surgery; psoas abscess/ etiology/microbiology/surgery; spinal fusion/adverse effects.

Abstract

Percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy (PELD) is known to be a safe procedure with a very low complication rate. A 29-year-old female patient developed a pyogenic psoas abscess following PELD. Despite early drainage, the infection spread to the spine causing secondary spondylodiscitis. Prolonged antibiotic treatment was ineffective, so the patient was subjected to anterior interbody fusion with iliac bone graft. At the end of a year, the fusion was solid with resolution of the psoas and spine infection. To our knowledge, this is first case of a psoas abscess as a rare complication of PELD.