Unusual Case of Osteomyelitis and Discitis in a Drug User with a Background of Chronic Back Pain: Do Not Miss the Serious Etiologies

Chronic back pain is a common presenting complaint that is frequently encountered by clinicians. The challenge for clinicians is identifying the relatively few patients with a significant probability of a more serious problem that requires further evaluation. Such individuals require further evaluat...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Case reports in infectious diseases 2013-01, Vol.2013 (2013), p.1-3
Main Authors: Saba, Raya, Hussain, Nasir, Barbaryan, Aram, Kwatra, Shawn G., Khan, Moona, Ali, Alaa M., Mirrakhimov, Aibek E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Case Report
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Chronic back pain is a common presenting complaint that is frequently encountered by clinicians. The challenge for clinicians is identifying the relatively few patients with a significant probability of a more serious problem that requires further evaluation. Such individuals require further evaluation for possible occult malignancy, infection, or fracture. We present a case of a 50-year-old male with a past medical history of chronic back pain and IV drug abuse who presented with acute back pain and in whom a diagnosis of vertebral osteomyelitis was missed during multiple visits to the emergency room.
ISSN:2090-6625
2090-6633
DOI:10.1155/2013/729812