Surgical Decision-Making in the Infected Thoracolumbar Spine: Managing Deep Surgical Site Infection After Instrumented Fusion

This review reframes deep spinal infection after thoracolumbar fusion around five sequential surgical decisions the surgeon must make in the operating room, and shows that timing (within 90 days vs. beyond) fundamentally changes the right answer at each step.

A structured, decision-by-decision framework helps spine surgeons handle a common and serious complication where high-quality comparative evidence is still lacking.