How Common Is Deep Spinal Infection after an Epidural Injection?

The incidence of deep spinal infection (DSI; Figure 1) after epidural injection is unclear. Using data from a nationwide Korean database, investigators determined the incidence of and risk factors for DSI after a single epidural injection among almost 4 million individuals who received some 12 million injections total from 2009 to 2018. The authors defined DSI as a new infection that occurred within 90 days of the most recent injection and required hospitalization and ≥4 weeks of antibiotic therapy. They did not report data on medications used in the epidural injections.