Here are five key notes:
1. These are the first U.S. evidence-based guidelines.
2. A panel of 11 experts, including infectious disease physicians, an orthopedic surgeon and a radiologist, wrote these guidelines. They were published in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
3. The spinal infection is more common in the elderly. It has an overall incidence of two to six per 100,000 annually.
4. Staphylococcus aureus is the most common cause of the infection.
5. Here are some of the guidelines:
• Elevated diagnostic markers of inflammation, such as erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein, may suggest vertebral osteomyelitis.
• Plain radiographs of the spine are not sensitive for early diagnosis.
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