Vertebral osteomyelitis (VO) represents 4 to 10% of bone and joint infections. In Western countries, its incidence seems to increase, simultaneously with an increasing number of comorbidities among an ageing population. This study aimed to assess the evolution of VO epidemiology in France over the 2010-2019 decade. A nationwide cross-sectional study was conducted using the French hospital discharge data collected through the French diagnosisrelated groups "Programme de Médicalisation des Systèmes d'Information". VOs were detected with a previously validated case definition using ICD-10 codes, implemented with the French current procedural terminology codes. The study population included all patients hospitalized in France during the 2010-2019 decade, aged 15 years old and more. Patient and hospital stay characteristics and their evolutions were described. During the study period, 42105 patients were hospitalized for VO in France involving 60878 hospital stays. Mean VO incidence was 7.8/100000 over the study period, increasing from 6.1/100000 in 2010 to 11.3/100000 in 2019.Mean age was 64.8 years old and sex ratio was 1.56. There were 31341 (74.4%) patients with at least one comorbidity and 3059 (7.3%) deceased during their hospital stay. Even if rare, device-associated VOs (4450 hospital stays, 7.3%) highly increased over the period. The reliability of the method, based upon an exhaustive database and a validated case definition, provided an effective tool to compare data over time in real-life conditions to regularly update the epidemiology of VO.

No abstract

No abstract