Etiological Insights and the Role of Individual Factors in Infectious Spondylodiscitis

<b>Objectives:</b> Spondylodiscitis can be caused by various microorganisms and has shown a continuous rise in incidence and mortality. The purpose of our study was to analyze the demographic and laboratory data, as well as comorbidities of patients that were surgically treated for spondylodiscitis in our hospital. The causative pathogens involved in the etiology of spinal infections were also assessed. <b>Methods:</b> The study included 92 patients who underwent clinical, radiological, and microbiological analyses including bacterial isolation. According to their culture results, patients were divided into three groups: negative results (<i>n =</i> 29), positive results with <i>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</i> (M. tb.) (<i>n =</i> 26), and positive results with other pathological agents (<i>n =</i> 37). <b>Results:</b> Patients with M. tb. had a significantly lower body mass index (<i>p</i> = 0.022) and were significantly younger (<i>p</i> = 0.024) than the others. The analysis of the complete blood work showed significant differences between the groups regarding fibrinogen levels (<i>p</i> = 0.023), C-reactive protein (<i>p</i> = 0.009), and erythrocyte sedimentation rates (<i>p</i> = 0.042). Results also showed significant differences (<i>p</i> = 0.023) for patients with diabetes mellitus who were more prone to a tuberculosis etiology for their spondylodiscitis compared with patients without the disease. <b>Conclusions:</b> These findings have important implications for adopting individualized treatment strategies underlining the need for identification of patients at high risk for specific causative pathogens.