Decompressive Laminectomy Complicated by Postoperative Mycoplasma hominis Epidural Abscess and Meningitis in a Young Woman: A Case Report.
Chew R., Woods ML.
CaseA twenty-eight-year-old woman underwent decompressive laminectomy and placement of an interlaminar stabilizer due to L4/L5 disc herniation. Thirteen days later she developed a fever unresponsive to meropenem and vancomycin, along with signs of meningitis. A Mycoplasma hominis epidural abscess was identified. She had no preoperative risk factors for extragenital M. hominis infection, but had had a urinary catheter inserted intraoperatively.ConclusionM. hominis postoperative surgical site infection is a rarely identified complication of spinal surgery. Seeding from the genitourinary tract is the most likely source.