Article
作者: Panico, Flavio ; Lofrese, Giorgio ; Stienen, Martin N ; Gousias, Konstantinos ; Omerhodzic, Ibrahim ; Vitowanu, Julius Mautin ; Kasula, Tharaka Sai ; Matt, Matthias ; Urbanski, Wiktor ; Buchta, Melanie ; Nedeljkovic, Aleksandra ; Grujicic, Danica ; Ponniah, Hariharan Subbiah ; Schär, Ralph T ; Barbato, Marcello ; Kramer, Andreas ; Hosszú, Tomáš ; Fischer, Gregor ; Poluga, Jasmina ; Simon, Matthias ; Nedeljkovic, Zarko ; Davies, Benjamin ; Pantel, Tobias ; Barbarisi, Manlio ; Jemna, Maxim ; Ringel, Florian ; Thavarajasingam, Santhosh G ; Thomé, Claudius ; Pai, Delin ; Mongardi, Lorenzo ; Desai, Sohum ; Sousa, Carla ; Rovčanin, Bekir ; Lener, Sara ; Hostettler, Isabel C ; Harmer, Helena ; Ladisich, Barbara ; Garbossa, Diego ; Lange, Felipa ; Trávníček, Pavel ; Gempt, Jens ; Neuhoff, Jonathan ; Doenitz, Christian ; Shiban, Ehab ; Bamps, Sven ; Demetriades, Andreas K ; Wissels, Maarten ; Grassner, Lukas ; Casimiro, Carlos Daniel Oliveira ; Hamouda, Waeel ; Stengel, Felix C
BACKGROUND CONTEXTSpondylodiscitis management presents significant clinical challenges, particularly in critically ill patients, where the risks and benefits of surgical intervention must be carefully balanced. The optimal timing of surgery in this context remains a subject of debate.PURPOSEThis study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of early surgery versus delayed surgery or conservative management in critically ill patients with de novo pyogenic spondylodiscitis.STUDY DESIGN/SETTINGThis is an international, multicenter retrospective cohort study involving 24 centers, primarily in Europe.PATIENT SAMPLEThe study included 192 critically ill patients (65.63% male) with a median age of 69 years, all severely affected by pyogenic spondylodiscitis characterized by an initial CRP level >200 mg/l or the presence of two out of four Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome criteria upon admission.OUTCOME MEASURESThe primary outcome was 30-day mortality. Secondary outcomes included length of ICU stay, length of hospital stay, and relapse rates of spondylodiscitis.METHODSPatients were divided into three groups: early surgery (within three days of admission), delayed surgery (after three days of admission), and conservative therapy. Propensity score matching and multivariate regression analyses were performed to adjust for baseline differences and assess the impact of treatment modalities on mortality and other clinical outcomes.RESULTSDelayed surgery was associated with significantly lower 30-day mortality (4.05%) compared to early surgery (27.85%) and conservative therapy (27.78%) (p<.001). Delayed surgery also resulted in shorter hospital stays (42.76 days) compared to conservative therapy (55.53 days) and early surgery (26.33 days) (p<.001), and shorter ICU stays (4.52 days) compared to conservative therapy (16.48 days) and early surgery (7.92 days) (p<.001). The optimal window for surgery, minimizing mortality, was identified as ten to fourteen days postadmission (p=.02). Risk factors for increased mortality included age (p<.05), multiple organ failure (p<.05), and vertebral body destruction (p<.05), whereas delayed surgery (p<.05) and the presence of an epidural abscess were associated with reduced mortality (p<.05).CONCLUSIONSDelayed surgery, optimally between 10 to 14 days postadmission, was associated with lower mortality in critically ill spondylodiscitis patients. These findings highlight the potential benefits of considering surgical timing to improve patient outcomes.