13. The diagnostic utility of biomarkers: spinal instability or underlying infection

Surgical site infection is a devastating complication of surgery that increases morbidity for patients undergoing spinal surgery. However, diagnosis in some cases remains challenging often requiring a trip to the operating room to obtain cultures. Current literature has provided evidence that preoperative blood markers are diagnostic of infection in patients undergoing hip arthroplasty and total knee replacement, but there has been limited investigation on biomarker diagnostic utility in patients undergoing spinal surgery.

Source: The Spine Journal - August 11, 2021 Category: Orthopaedics Authors: Francis Sirch, Brian Karamian, Jose A. Canseco, Kristen Nicholson, Nicolas Dohse, Emily Schueppert, Alan S. Hilibrand, Christopher K. Kepler, Alexander R. Vaccaro, Gregory D. Schroeder Source Type: research