TY  - JOUR
A1  - Thavarajasingam, Santhosh G.
A1  - Subbiah Ponniah, Hariharan
A1  - Philipps, Richard
A1  - Neuhoff, Jonathan Andreas Hans-Günter
A1  - Kramer, Andreas
A1  - Demetriades, Andreas K.
A1  - Shiban, Ehab
A1  - Ringel, Florian Alexander
A1  - Davies, Benjamin
T1  - Increasing incidence of spondylodiscitis in England: An analysis of the national health service (NHS) hospital episode statistics from 2012 to 2021
T2  - Brain and Spine
N2  - Background: Spondylodiscitis is a potentially life-threatening infection of the intervertebral disk and adjacent vertebral bodies, with a mortality rate of 2–20%. Given the aging population, the increase in immunosuppression, and intravenous drug use in England, the incidence of spondylodiscitis is postulated to be increasing; however, the exact epidemiological trend in England remains unknown.
Objective: The Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) database contains details of all secondary care admissions across NHS hospitals in England. This study aimed to use HES data to characterise the annual activity and longitudinal change of spondylodiscitis in England.
Methods: The HES database was interrogated for all cases of spondylodiscitis between 2012 and 2019. Data for the length of stay, waiting time, age-stratified admissions, and ‘Finished Consultant Episodes’ (FCEs), which correspond to a patient's hospital care under a lead clinician, were analysed.
Results: In total, 43135 FCEs for spondylodiscitis were identified between 2012 and 2022, of which 97.1% were adults. Overall admissions for spondylodiscitis have risen from 3 per 100,000 population in 2012/13 to 4.4 per 100,000 population in 2020/21. Similarly, FCEs have increased from 5.8 to 10.3 per 100,000 population, in 2012–2013 and 2020/21 respectively. The highest increase in admissions from 2012 to 2021 was recorded for those aged 70–74 (117% increase) and aged 75-59 (133% increase), among those of working age for those aged 60–64 years (91% increase).
Conclusion: Population-adjusted admissions for spondylodiscitis in England have risen by 44% between 2012 and 2021. Healthcare policymakers and providers must acknowledge the increasing burden of spondylodiscitis and make spondylodiscitis a research priority.
KW  - Spondylodiscitis
KW  - Pyogenic
KW  - Spine infection
KW  - Discitis
KW  - Spondylitis
KW  - Incidence
Y1  - 2023
UR  - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/78825
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-788259
SN  - 2772-5294
VL  - 3
IS  - 101733
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Amsterdam
ER  -