Candida albicans, I believe everyone is not unfamiliar, it is a fungus, usually exists in the mouth, upper respiratory tract, intestines and vagina of normal people, generally in the normal body in small numbers, does not cause disease, but when the body's resistance declines, it may cause disease, but also may cause disease in your unexpected parts!
Not long ago, Uncle Wang, who lives in Changsha, went to the Spine Surgery Department of the Second People's Hospital of Hunan Province for more than half a year due to leg pain, low back pain for more than 2 months, and cough for more than 10 days. According to Uncle Wang's own account, he once suffered from gallbladder stones and double kidney stones, and performed "titanium laser lithotripsy" in a hospital in early 2021, and recovered well after surgery. Soon after, the right thigh began to ache, then the waist also hurt, and recently began to cough again, and now the pain in the lower back and leg has intensified so much that it is difficult to get out of bed. Uncle Wang was tormented by illness and went to many hospitals to treat him without results.
Chief Physician He Feiping and Deputy Chief Physician Gai Jingying, chief physician of spine surgery, received detailed examination, analysis, and investigation, and the effect was not good after conservative treatment such as anti-tuberculosis, anti-non-specific infection drugs and bed rest, and after evaluation, it was finally decided to take surgical treatment and give catheter irrigation and drainage. The results of the postoperative specimen culture showed that it was Candida albicans infection!
Uncle Wang was eventually diagnosed with: lumbar intervertebral space infection (fungal spondylitis, Candida albicans), Dr. Gai Jingying immediately adjusted the treatment medication, combined with irrigation, after nearly two months of treatment, Uncle Wang's symptoms gradually eased, recovered well and was discharged from the hospital. Uncle Wang finally got rid of the torment of illness and was very grateful to the medical team.
What is fungal spondylitis?
According to Deputy Chief Physician Gai Jingying, fungal spondylitis used to be very rare, but in recent years, due to the large use and abuse of antibiotics, the disease has a tendency to rise. Fungal spondylitis is one of the infectious lesions of the spine, which refers to the infection of the vertebral body, intervertebral discs and soft tissues around the vertebral body. According to the type of pathogenic bacteria, it can be divided into: purulent spondylitis (bacterial infection), granulomatous spondylitis (Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Brucella, fungal infection), parasitic spondylitis. Fungal infections are generally active when the body's resistance is low or antibiotics are overused, called "opportunistic mycosis". The pathways by which germs invade bones are divided into: direct invasion of trauma (rare), local spread or blood-borne infection.
How is fungal spondylitis diagnosed?
In addition to clinical symptoms, signs, and imaging findings, the diagnosis of fungal spondylitis is based on isolation and culture of pathogenic fungi in the lesion specimen (or within secretions), or on pathological sections.
There are only sporadic reports of fungal infection of the spine, and the first symptoms of fungal spondylitis are generally nonspecific and most easily misdiagnosed, so the possibility of fungal infection should be highly suspected for unexplained spinal infections.
How is fungal spondylitis treated?
General therapy for fungal spondylitis is the general treatment for spinal disorders, including rest, local immobilization, etc. Pharmacotherapy should be based on mycological examination to determine which pathogenic organism it belongs to, so that drugs that effectively control the causative fungus can be used and ineffective antibacterial drugs may be modified or discontinued as appropriate. For patients with symptoms of nerve compression, spinal canal exploration, decompression, and internal fixation should be performed, and the surgical method should be determined according to the condition.
Finally, Dr. Gai Jingying reminded that waist and leg pain diseases must not be blindly massaged and treated, and must be checked and treated as soon as possible in regular medical institutions to avoid delaying the disease.
Contributed by: Luo Lin, Department of Spine Surgery, Second People's Hospital of Hunan Province
Editor: Liu Yuchen
Image: From the Internet, intrusion and deletion
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