Purpose <p>Spondylodiscitis is a common infection affecting the intervertebral disc and represents a major concern in the field of spine surgery. Abiotrophia defectiva (AD) is part of the nutritionally variant streptococci, which are well acknowledged, although rare, species of streptococci. The aims of this study are to perform a literature review of vertebral infections from AD and present a case of spondylodiscitis after lumbar discectomy. Methods: An electronic systematic search was conducted on PubMed and Scopus to select studies reporting spondylitis or discitis due to AD infection. Moreover, we report the first case of spondylodiscitis from AD infection after discectomy in a patient without medical history of dental procedures nor contemporary or subsequent development of cardiac valve infection. Results: AD is a rare cause of vertebral infection, with only 4 cases described in literature, three of which in patients with an history of heart disease. The outcome is usually positive with vigorous antibiotic therapy, despite common difficulty in settling upon the proper antibiotic treatment. All the cases recovered as expected and didn’t develop any serious long term sequalae from the infection. Conclusion: Discitis caused by AD are very rare events and are often caused by bacteremia with heart valve infection, dental infections, or dental procedures in patients with poor dental hygiene. The case we report highlights the combination of an infrequent pathology and an unusual pathogen for discitis. Moreover, this is the first case described in the literature of AD spondylodiscitis without a concomitant predisposing condition.</p>