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Spinal Fusion Infection

Infections are not common after spinal fusion surgery. If you do develop one, immediate treatment from your doctor is necessary because an infection can cause significant pain, paralysis, and even death.

  1. Spinal Fusion

    • Spinal fusion is a form of surgery performed to correct problems in the spine. During the procedure, two or more vertebrae are fused together using either bone, metal rods or a combination of the two.

    Wound Infection

    • After undergoing spinal fusion, you could develop an infection at the incision site. Symptoms include heat or redness near the incision and a failure of the wound to heal.

    Deep Infection

    • Infection can also occur in your spine. If this happens, you could experience back pain and even paralysis if the infection causes swelling that presses down on your spinal cord.

    Treatments

    • The initial treatment for infection after spinal fusion is a course of antibiotics. Your doctor could need to reopen the incision to drain the infection. If the infection is very severe, the bone graft or metal rods used to fuse your spine could need to be removed.

    Considerations

    • A superficial infection of the wound usually occurs while you are recovering from surgery. An infection of your spine can develop years after your spinal fusion procedure was performed.

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