CASE REPORT article
Front. Surg.
Sec. Orthopedic Surgery
This article is part of the Research TopicEndoscopy, Navigation, Robotics, Current Trends and Newer Technologies in the Management of Spinal Disorders. Towards a Paradigm Change in the Clinical Practice.View all 7 articles
Case Report: Brodie's Abscess of Spine in a Young Female Treated by Percutaneous Endoscopic Debridement and Drainage (PEDD)
Provisionally accepted
- 1Taoyuan General Hospital, Taoyuan City, Taiwan
- 2Taipei Veterans General Hospital Taoyuan Branch, Taoyuan, Taiwan
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Brodie's abscess is a rare subacute osteomyelitis. It is characterized by a localized, well-demarcated abscess within the bone, typically in the metaphysis of long bones in young male. Spine involvement is extremely rare, accounting for only 1% of all cases. Due to the rarity of this condition, there is no established standard treatment. We present a case of a 37-year-old female with a Brodie's abscess in the L1-L2 vertebrae, who was successfully treated with percutaneous endoscopic debridement and drainage (PEDD) and concomitant percutaneous instrumentation, the necessity of which was underscored by objective stability assessments. The patient's back pain significantly improved after the surgery, and she was able to walk without any support. The patient was discharged on postoperative day 14 and was followed up for 1 year, with no recurrence of the infection. We believe that PEDD is a safe and effective treatment option for Brodie's abscess of the spine.
Keywords: Brodie's abscess, Spondylodiscitis, Vertebral osteomyelitis, percutaneous endoscopic debridement and drainage (PEDD), minimally invasive spine surgery, Antimicrobial stewardship, Thoracolumbar spine
Received: 23 Sep 2025; Accepted: 17 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yang, Huang and Yu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Ching-Hsiao Yu, smalloil1205@yahoo.com.tw
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