Coccygodynia is a pathological condition associated with pain-discomfort all around the bottom end of the spine. The aetiology and the intensity of the symptoms may defer significantly. The effectiveness of the surgical treatment remains obscure. Our purpose, through this systematic review is to evaluate the results of surgical treatment of coccygectomy. Literature retrieval was performed by the use of the PubMed searching engine utilising the terms 'coccygodynia-coccygectomy' in the English language from January 1980 to January 2010. Case reports and tumour related case series were excluded as well as articles published in other languages. In total 24 manuscripts were analyzed. Only 2 of them were prospective studies whereas 22 were retrospective case series; five were classified as Level III studies and the remaining as Level IV studies. In total, 671 patients with coccygodynia underwent coccygectomy following failed conservative management. The sex ratio, male/female was 1:4.4. The most popular aetiology for coccygodynia was direct trauma in 270 patients. 504 of the patients reported an excellent/ good outcome following the procedure. There were 9 deep and 47 superficial infections. Other complications included two haematomas, six delayed wound healings and nine wound dehiscence. The overall complication rate was 11%. Patients with history of spinal or rectal disorders, as well as idiopathic or with compensation issues, had less predictable outcome than those with history of trauma or childbirth. Coccygectomy can provide pain relief to as high as 85% of the cases. The most common reported complication was wound infection.

Background and purpose Spondylodiscitis may be a serious disease due to diagnostic delay and inadequate treatment. There is no consensus on when and how to operate. We therefore retrospectively analyzed the outcome of a large series of patients treated either nonoperatively or surgically.Patients and methods Between 1992 and 2000, 163 patients (101 males) were hospitalized due to spondylodiscitis. The mean age was 56 (1-83) years. The infection was located in the cervical spine in 13 patients (8%), in the thoracic spine in 62 patients (38%), at the thoracolumbar junction in 10 patients (6%), and in the lumbo-sacral spine in 78 patients (48%). In 67 patients (41%), no microorganisms were detected. Most of the other patients had Staphylococcus aureus infection (53 patients) and/or Mycobacterium tuberculosis (22 patients). The patients were divided into 3 groups: (A) 70 patients who had nonoperative treatment, (B) 56 patients who underwent posterior decompression alone, and (C) 37 patients who underwent decompression and stabilization.Results At 12-month follow-up, nonoperative treatment (A) had failed in 8/70 patients, who had subsequently been operated. 24/56 and 6/37 had been reoperated in groups B and C, respectively. Group A patients had no neurological symptoms. In group B, 11 had neurological deficits and surgery was beneficial for 5 of them; 4 remained unchanged and 2 deteriorated (1 due to cerebral abscess). 11 patients in group C had altered neurogical deficits, which improved in 9 of them. 20 patients had died during the 1-year follow-up, 3 in hospital, directly related with infection.

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