Symptoms of OSTEOMYELITIS OF THE SPINE

In bacterial osteomyelitis of the spine, there is the rapid onset of back or neck pain in the affected area. Muscle spasms are common and any movement tends to increase the pain. Fever and chills develop. If the nervous system is involved, weakness, numbness or loss of bowel and bladder function can occur. Chronic forms of osteomyelitis of the spine most commonly occur with tuberculosis. Here there is weight loss, nights sweats and fever. There is pain over the affected bone, commonly at the junction between the chest and the low back. Pus may track along the side of the spine over the psoas muscle. This can produce pain in the groin or a mass in the groin. Spinal deformity may develop as the involved bones weaken and may fracture. A prominence where the spine becomes acutely angled, a gibbus, may develop.