Cervical osteomyelitis and soft tissue polymicrobial abscess in an immunocompetent 16-year-old patient.

A 16-year-old man was hospitalised with a painful space-occupying lesion in his posterior neck involving muscles, soft tissues, C1 cervical vertebra and vital cervical blood vessels. The true-cut biopsy showed inflammatory tissue. The microbiological analysis, which combined classical bacteriological and molecular methods, yielded at least four different anaerobic species. The patient was treated successfully with a prolonged course of ceftriaxone and metronidazole.