Applying the German S2k-Guideline for Diagnosis and Treatment of Spondylodiscitis-A 5-Year Retrospective Evaluation of Patients Without Neurological Symptoms

Spondylodiscitis is a rather rare condition with an annual incidence of 1-7 per 100,000. Thus, empirical data on the treatment of this disease are limited. In 2020, the first German guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of spondylodiscitis was published. In a 5-year retrospective analysis, we examined the patient collective, the current diagnosis and treatment strategy, and the effect of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) diagnostics on therapeutic decisions of a consecutive monocentric cohort of 66 patients without neurological symptoms. The majority of the patients were male (55%) with a mean age of 74 years. Non-operative therapy was found to be associated with short-term treatment success in 54 (82%) of the patients. In 12 patients, who underwent surgical therapy, MRI diagnostics and clinical findings were equally important for the decision to perform a surgery. Patients treated operatively stayed for an average of 33.6 (±12.9) days in the hospital and thus significantly longer than non-operatively treated patients with 22.2 (±8.0) days. The in-house standard of care did not essentially deviate from the guideline's recommendations. Future research should address early detection of the need for surgical therapy, and immediate anti-infective treatment appropriate to the detected pathogen.