Diagnosed with discitis - antibiotics not working what next?

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I have been diagnosed with discitis have had 3 months of antibiotics that have not worked. Tested for TB and endocarditis what next? Been going on for 4 months with no improvement. Anyone else been in this situation????
Unfortunately, difficulties treating discitis are common. Excluding TB and endocarditis is important.

Speak to your consultant about the situation. There are a number of reasons why antibiotics may not be working:

1) They are not active against the bug causing your infection. Did they manage to grow the bug - usually from a biopsy (piece of the disc) or a sample of blood? If not, there is no other choice than to use a 'best guess' antibiotic, and obviously there is a chance this may not work.

2) You are not taking a high enough dose of antibiotic. How do you receive your antibiotics - are they through a drip or do you take tablets? Initially they should have been given through a drip, to make sure the most amount of antibiotic was getting in to kill the bugs. (Do not start taking extra tablets to try and increase the dose without speaking to your doctor).

3) Treated discitis can leave some people with pain for some time afterwards. This is due to the damage the infection has caused.

Again, I would advise speaking to your doctor. Ask them if they have spoken to the Microbiology department at the hospital who give doctors advice on how to treat complicated infections like discitis.  (+ info)

whats the difference between discitis and spinal tuberculosis?

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can an MRI reveal a difference between these two diseases?
Discitis is a low-grade infection that affects the disc space between two vertebrae, and spinal tuberculosis is an infection of the spine by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacterium. Yes, I'm sure an MRI will be able to differentiate between the two.  (+ info)

Is discitis a fatal disease? What is the usual prognosis ?

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Justin the first website was excellent but what was the second one for?
I googled it and got this.

http://www.maturespine.com/diagnoses/discitis.html  (+ info)

Is it possible to have DISCITIS without having an elevated C-reactive protein rate?

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A C-reactive protein test is a non-specific test for inflammation. It is not diagnostic of any condition. You would think that an inflamed disc would cause the CRP to be positive. The CRP is often the first sign of inflammation and also the first sign to go down after treatment. So in your case, it could be a matter of timing. I would not base a diagnosis on this one test. It is just not that good of a test - and also depends on what kit/procedure the lab is using. In this case, the test should be performed with other tests like Xrays or MRI scans. Another test for inflammation that may be run concurrently would be an ESR (erythrocyte sed. rate). If both are negative, then it is much more likely that inflammation is not present.  (+ info)

osteomyelitis and tetraplegia?

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i was wondering, can tetraplegia be caused by discitis, osteomyelitis, and epidural abscess? I was given a scenario in which the patient had a C4-6 corpectomy secondary to osteomyelitis, etc.

Is it possible that the osteomyelitis resulted to the patient being tetraplegic which resulted to the patient needing corpectomy?

Or the osteomyelitis resulted to a need for corpectomy which eventually made the patient tetraplegic?

Thanks.
it is possibility the osteomyelitis causing a tetraplegia.
You can get more details follow this link:

http://www.nature.com/sc/journal/v39/n10/abs/3101207a.html  (+ info)

How bad is it? What's really going on? Diagnose me.?

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A lil' background: 39 yr old female. chronic back and neck pain for years, since 1991ish. Last 4 yrs: weak, tired, depression, elevated cholesterol, Osteoarthritis,menopause.

In Aug/2008 TSH was .61 & FSH @ 68.7f . Aug/2009 TSH is .27 ,T4 1.0. noduals on both sides of thyoid and goiter is present. Thyroid function at 24 hrs is 18.7%.Thyroid function of the lower aspet of normal.PCP wants me to take 25mcg of synthroid. Should I?

NOW on to the back:XRAY RESULTS>Straightening of the cervical curve, spondylosis abd invertebral disc space narowong at C5-C6: Thoracic spine=spondylosis of upper spine and cervical spondylosis. Lumbar=
5mm of posterior spondylolisthesis of L5 on S1. Marked invertebral disc space narrowing and endplate sclerosis at L-S1. Mild diffuse lumar spondylosis. Sclerosis of sacroiliac joits bilaterally.
MRI on lumbar= Conus is at L1. Impressions: Left lateral disc herniation at L4-L5 extending into the exit foramen and effacing the ventral aspect of the exiting left L4 nerve root causing left exit foramen stenosis. At L5-S1 one there is abnormal appearing signal in the adjacent vertabral body, possible degenerative arthritis change occasionally process as discitis can have similar appearance, should be correlated closely. At same level broad-based dsc bulging is present Mild bilateral exit foramen narrowing is seen.
I have been in PT for 5 wks. Helps some since I don't have to roll of the side of bed to get up. Started steriod shots Fri and go back for 2 more w/in the next 4wks. The pain is bad and limits me to certain physical activities BUT I deal w/it and stay as active as I can.

Will I be able to avoid surgery? How "big is the hernated disc since it is hitting L4 nerve? I've read that it isn't common for a disc at L4-L5 to affect L4 nerve. How fast will the osteoarthritis progress? Other than exersice, how else can I improve/slow down the process?
My right side is also affected: lumbar back, & shooting pain going up from rt scapula area to shoulder and my right hand goes cold,numb, and at times can't pick a coffee cup.
  (+ info)

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