News

Rockford, IL (April 4, 2011) - Surgery patients of Rockford Spine Center (RSC) are experiencing lower infection rates following a 10-year study the surgeons conducted on a new way to administer an antibiotic for spinal surgery. The findings of the study have been so well received that the abstract for the scientific study was accepted for publication in Spine, recognized internationally as the leading journal in its field. Surgeons from across the country are now putting the new method into practice and initiating confirmation studies.

Fred A. Sweet, MD, Michael Roh, MD, and Christopher Sliva, M.D - fellowship trained spine surgeons and partners of Rockford Spine Center - use the new technique of applying the antibiotic Vancomycin in patients undergoing complex spinal surgery to reduce the risk of infection. It is used in about 80% of the surgeries performed, which equates to about 500 surgeries a year for RSC. Vancomycin is typically given through an intravenous route. The surgeons at Rockford Spine Center have demonstrated that placing a powder version of the drug directly into the wound is more effective at reducing infection rates. In fact, the rate was lowered from a national average of 2.4% to 0.2%.

“The benefit of placing the Vancomycin powder in the wound is that it is a higher concentration where bacteria can potentially cause harm,” notes Dr. Sweet. “It does not speed-up the recovery per se, but it significantly reduces the infection rate, which is critical in the recovery process.”

The surgeons note that prevention is essential because once an infection sets in, there are very few antibiotics that are strong enough for treatment. “We do everything in our power to prevent an infection in our patients because it can drastically change the outcome of the recovery process,” said Dr. Sliva. “We are so pleased this new method of using vancomycin achieved the results we hoped for.”

Dr. Roh discusses another benefit, “Placing the drug directly into the wound instead of through an I.V. prevents the spread of the medication throughout the body where it can cause damage to other organs or produce resistant bacteria in other parts of the body. “

More than 1,000 patients were involved in the study over the course of 10 years. The results were so overwhelmingly positive that Drs. Sweet, Roh and Sliva had to share their findings. Several spine surgeons and orthopedic trauma surgeons at Washington University in St. Louis, Mayo Clinic, University of California - San Francisco, as well as many other institutions are now using this new method.

“The publication of this study is encouraging that it will help more than just the patients that we operate on, but will hopefully have a significant impact on hundreds of thousands of patients who have surgery across the world,“ said Dr. Sweet.

About Rockford Spine Center

Rockford Spine Center is the only facility in Northwestern Illinois dedicated exclusively to spinal care. The facility has the combined expertise of three fellowship trained spine surgeons, a Mayo Clinic trained physiatrist and a general orthopedic surgeon.

Rockford Spine Center’s team of experts uses a multidisciplinary approach to treat the most complex spinal cases. The team has an advanced understanding of the spine and specializes in both surgical and non-surgical spinal disorders. Rockford Spine Center’s goal is to get patients back to their active lifestyle as quickly as possible. For more information about Rockford Spine Center, visit the company’s website at www.rockfordspine.com.