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Bacterial infection of spinal instrumentation is a significant challenge in spinal fusion surgery. Although the intraoperative local application of powdered vancomycin is common practice for mitigating infection, the antimicrobial effects of this route of administration are short-lived. Therefore, novel antibiotic-loaded bone grafts as well as a reliable animal model to permit the testing of such therapies are needed to improve the efficacy of infection reduction practices in spinal fusion surgery.

This study aims to establish a clinically relevant rat model of spinal implant-associated infection to permit the evaluation of antimicrobial bone graft materials used in spinal fusion.

Rodent study of chronic spinal implant-associated infection.

Instrumentation anchored in and spanning the vertebral bodies of L4 and L5 was inoculated with bioluminescent methicillin-resistant …