Spinal epidural abscess due to Brucella species is usually associated with spondylodiscitis. Urgent surgical decompression should be performed in cases with moderate to severe neurological deficits particularly if progressive. We report clinical features of two cases operated for lumbar epidural abscess caused by Brucella species. Early surgical decompression combined with medical treatment cou...

Epidural abscess of the spinal column is a rare condition that can be fatal if left untreated. It promptly progresses and can cause neurologic paralysis, urinary retention or cauda equina syndrome. Compromised immune system that occurs in patients with diabetes mellitus, AIDS, chronic renal failure, alcoholism, or cancer is a predisposing factor. It mostly occurs in adults. Here we would like t...

Spinal epidural abscess (SEA) is a rare disease which is often rapidly progressive. Delayed diagnosis of SEA may lead to serious complications and the clinical findings of SEA are generally nonspecific. Paraspinal abscess should be considered in the presence of local low back tenderness, redness, and pain with fever, particularly in children. In case of delayed diagnosis and treatment, SEA may ...

We report a case of spinal epidural abscess formation after short-term epidural catheter placement for analgesia during labour and delivery. The patient was previously healthy and did not have any predisposing factors. Increasing back pain was the only complaint. A contrast-enhanced CT study on day 5 was inconclusive. Magnetic resonance imaging was performed and showed a large triangular-shaped...

A 41-year-old man with recent intravenous drug use presented with 2 weeks of progressively worsening neck and low back pain, four days of bilateral upper and lower extremity weakness, and urinary retention. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a T2/STIR hyperintense posterior epidural collection, suggestive of a spinal epidural abscess (SEA), extending throughout the epidural space of the ...

We report on a patient who developed persistent low back pain, pyrexia and neurological deficit soon after she underwent a laparotomy under combined general and epidural anaesthesia. The diagnosis of lumbar vertebral osteomyelitis, discitis, epidural and psoas abscesses was made one month later when she was referred to our institution. The patient was successfully treated with posterior decompr...

INTRODUCTION The incidence of spinal epidural abscesses (SEAs) is rising. Although increased awareness has led to decreased mortality, morbidity remains unacceptably high, with rapid deterioration of neurological status when there is a delay in initiation of treatment. Therefore, we need to build a better understanding of prognostic factors and management strategies. The goal of this article is...

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study is to elucidate the clinical characteristics of patients with spinal epidural abscess (SEA) and demonstrate the risk factors, treatments and neurologic outcomes. METHODS We retrospectively reviewed the medical records and radiologic images of 35 patients admitted to our department with SEA between March 1987 and April 2011. While we performed decompressive lami...

Multiple complications of varicella have been described. Musculoskeletal complications (osteomyelitis, septic arthritis, and necrotizing fasciitis) as well as neurologic complications (ataxia, encephalitis, and transverse myelitis) are well-known. We describe the cases of 2 children, ages 18 months and 5 years, who were admitted recently to 2 pediatric hospitals in Montreal with a resolving var...

Although cervical epidural abscess is rare, it should be strongly suspected in any patient with unexplainable neck pain and fever, especially when the patient has a predisposing factor for this infectious process. The authors report a case of cervical epidural abscess in a 39-yr-old man with an aorto-duodenal fistula, which complicated the interposition of artificial graft for abdominal aortic ...