Vertebral Osteomyelitis Quiz
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Have a fever
I have back pain
Low back pain
Fatigued
Weak
My body is hot
Back pain
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What is Vertebral Osteomyelitis?
Infection of the spine bones or cartilage discs between the bones. This can be caused by bacteria spreading from nearby infections or a weakened immune system allowing bacteria to travel to the spine through the bloodstream. This can cause severe complications and treatment is initiated in an emergent manner
Typical Symptoms of Vertebral Osteomyelitis
- Fever
- Kidney failure on dialysis
- Back pain or discomfort
- Lower back pain
- Recurrent fever episodes
- Lower back pain that worsens when pressing on the painful area
- Numbness or tingling in your legs or feet
- Weakness in your arms or legs
Diagnostic Questions for Vertebral Osteomyelitis
Your doctor may ask these questions to check for this disease:
- Do you have a fever?
- Are you currently on dialysis?
- Are you experiencing any back pain or discomfort?
- Do you have lower back pain?
- Do you have recurrent fever episodes?
Treatment of Vertebral Osteomyelitis
Eradication of the bacterial infection is achieved with a combination of antibiotics and additional interventions such as surgery to debride the area, decompress the spinal cord or nerves, and stabilize the spine if necessary. Prolonged duration of antibiotics is often necessary
Reviewed By:
Kent C Doan, MD (Orthopedics)
Dr Doan Graduated from the University of Missouri Kansas City School of Medicine and completed residency training in Orthopedic Surgery at the University of Colorado. He completed additional fellowship training in Orthopedic Sports Medicine at the prestigious Steadman Clinic and Steadman Philippon Research Institute in Vail, Colorado. He is a practicing Orthopedic Surgeon who specializes in complex and revision knee and shoulder surgery at the Kansas City Orthopedic Institute. He also holds an assistant professorship at the University of Kansas City.
Tomohiro Hamahata, MD (Orthopedics)
Dr. Hamahata graduated from the Jikei University of Medical Science. After working at Asanokawa General Hospital and Kosei Chuo Hospital, he joined the Department of Orthopedics at Asakusa Hospital in April 2021, specializing in general orthopedics and joint replacement surgery.
Content updated on Feb 19, 2025
Following the Medical Content Editorial Policy
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People with similar symptoms also use Ubie's symptom checker to find possible causes
- Recurrent fevers
- Periodic fever (>100.4°F / 38°C)
- Fever then no fever then fever again
- Lower part of the back has pain
- Remittent fever of 102.2°F / 39°C
- Extremely high fever of 106.7°F / 41.5°C or higher
- Chronic lower back pain
- Fever of 100.4°F / 38°C or more for weeks
- Pain in the upper back
- Stomach was uncomfortable, then had a fever
- Stomachache and diarrhea before a fever
- Temperature of 102.2°F / 39°C goes up and down
- Pain in the lower back worsens when standing up
- Pain in the spine
- Lumbar spine pain
See full list
Symptoms Related to Vertebral Osteomyelitis
Diseases Related to Vertebral Osteomyelitis
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Ubie’s symptom checker demonstrated a Top-10 hit accuracy of 71.6%, surpassing the performance of several leading symptom checkers in the market, which averaged around 60% accuracy in similar assessments.
Link to full study:
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.08.29.24312810v1References
Berbari EF, Kanj SS, Kowalski TJ, Darouiche RO, Widmer AF, Schmitt SK, Hendershot EF, Holtom PD, Huddleston PM, Petermann GW, Osmon DR, Infectious Diseases Society of America (2015). 2015 Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Native Vertebral Osteomyelitis in Adults. Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26229122/McHenry MC, Easley KA, Locker GA (Year). Vertebral osteomyelitis: long-term outcome for 253 patients from 7 Cleveland-area hospitals. Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11981730/Abramovitz JN, Batson RA, Yablon JS (Year). Vertebral osteomyelitis. The surgical management of neurologic complications. Spine.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3750078/