This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.

Propionibacterium acnes found in herniated discs not related to patients' Modic changes

Add topic to email alerts

Receive an email when new articles are posted on

Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on .

Subscribe

Added to email alerts

You've successfully added to your alerts. You will receive an email when new content is published.

Click Here to Manage Email Alerts

You've successfully added to your alerts. You will receive an email when new content is published.

Click Here to Manage Email Alerts

Back to Healio

We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com.

Back to Healio

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — In results of a study designed to determine the incidence of Propionibacterium acnes in 80 patients undergoing surgery for disc herniation, investigators reported they found no association between the bacteria and Modic changes in these patients.

Surgeons used a sterile technique to take six disc tissue samples per patient for microbiological and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis during the open minimally invasive surgical (MIS) approach, according to Laura Mathiesen.

She said five samples were cultured for a prolonged 14-day period in thioglycolate agar and a sixth sample was stored for subsequent PCR analysis.

“Our results show a low presence of P. acnes of 5%,” Mathiesen said at the EuroSpine Annual Meeting.

Patients underwent lower back MRI prior to surgery and the scans were interpreted to determine whether any Modic changes existed.

“With regard to our Modic findings, we saw 54% changes on MR that were predominantly type 2,” Mathiesen said.

However, the changes likely represented a normal distribution in the patients studied based on findings from a Finnish study that showed a similar 55% rate of positive Modic changes, she said. “In our study, we concluded there is no indication for antibiotic therapy. In conclusion, we found a low incidence of P. acnes in the disc tissue in patients undergoing a MIS approach combined with tissue harvesting techniques,” she said. “This suggests no correlation between the presence of P. acnes in disc tissue and Modic changes.”

In response to a question from the audience, Mathiesen noted the patients in her study were treated with antibiotics, but they received them perioperatively after the disc tissue samples were retrieved. – by Susan M. Rapp

Reference:

Mathiesen L, et al. Paper #36. Presented at: EuroSpine Annual Meeting; Sept. 2-4, 2015; Copenhagen, Denmark.

Disclosure: Mathiesen reports no relevant financial disclosures.