PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Détillon, Deniece
AU  - de Groot, Hans
AU  - Hoebink, Eric
AU  - Versteylen, Rob
AU  - Veen, Eelco
TI  - Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery as a diagnostic and therapeutic instrument in non-tubercular spondylodiscitis
AID  - 10.14444/2055
DP  - 2015 Jan 01
TA  - International Journal of Spine Surgery
PG  - 55
VI  - 9
4099  - https://www.ijssurgery.com/content/9/55.short
4100  - https://www.ijssurgery.com/content/9/55.full
SO  - Int J Spine Surg2015 Jan 01; 9
AB  - Background Spondylodiscitis refers to an infection of one or more intervertebral disks and vertebrae, most commonly caused by tuberculosis. Initial therapy for spondylodiscitis is drug treatment. Indications for surgical treatment include compression of neural elements, spinal instability or severe deformities. When surgery is indicated, an open technique is still the standard, although video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) is described in cases of thoracic disk herniation, scoliosis and tubercular spondylitis.Case report We report a case of a 79-year-old man with progressive back pain, paraparesis and paresthesias in both legs. During assessment, spondylodiscitis with spinal cord compression was diagnosed. Immediate surgical decompression took place by means of VATS. Culture of the tissue obtained revealed Proteus mirabilis. Blood and urine cultures also revealed Proteus mirabilis, a rare cause of spondylodiscitis with an occurrence rate of 0.9%.Conclusion VATS offered a minimally invasive access to obtain the diagnosis of pyogenic spondylodiscitis following urosepsis with Proteus mirabilis. Moreover, it provided treatment with abscess drainage and decompression of the spinal cord.