Abstract

There is a high risk of cervical osteomyelitis in intravenous drug abusers due to the use of jugular veins for administration of drugs. Here described is a case of rapid vertebral body destruction at two levels leading to a progressive kyphotic deformity followed by autofusion, secondary to cervical osteomyelitis. The case report goes on to hypothesise about the unique manner of progression of untreated cervical osteomyelitis with a rapid onset of kyphotic deformity and associated severe bone destruction in an intravenous drug abuser. Due to the high incidence of osteomyelitis in intravenous drug abusers, there should be a low threshold to investigate for this condition and early magnetic resonance imaging is vital. It alerts the treating spine surgeon to the fact that early immobilisation is crucial in these cases to prevent a severe impending deformity that can be surgically challenging.