Successful Treatment of Harboring a Carbapenemase Isolated from Lumbar Wound Infection and Blood in a Patient with Hardware Retention.

Infections caused by carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, especially carbapenemase producing , represent an urgent threat as outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). We present a 66-year-old male with spinal stenosis who underwent elective L2-pelvis posterior spinal fusion at an outside institution and rapidly developed a complicated infection with harboring carbapenemase. This is the first described case of a patient with harboring carbapenemase causing postoperative lumbar wound infection and bacteremia, successfully treated with ceftazidime-avibactam in combination with additional synergistic antibacterials and without hardware removal.