Infective discitis as an uncommon but important cause of back pain in older people

Case reports: two elderly patients (aged 70 and 80 years) presented with severe back pain and restriction of spinal movements. Inflammatory markers were raised and in each case computed tomography findings confirmed infective discitis, One patient improved with antibiotics but the second developed paraplegia, a recognized complication of discitis. Conclusion: the association of hack pain, restricted spinal movements and raised inflammatory markers should act as 'red flags', alerting the clinician to the presence of serious, but potentially treatable pathology.