BACKGROUND: Spinal cord abscesses are rare. Acute lesions may present as spinal cord syndrome with back pain and fever, whereas chronic abscesses tend to have a less specific symptomatology, especially in elderly patients. METHODS: Case report and review of the pertinent literature. CASE REPORT: An 82-year old male with diabetes mellitus presented with a four-month history of backache and some difficulty walking without sphincter disturbance or fever. Spinal magnetic resonance imaging revealed a midthoracic intramedullary ring-like lesion that proved to be an abscess. Corticosteroids, gentamicin, and ciprofloxacin were given. The abscess resolved after three months. CONCLUSIONS: Classically, treatment of intramedullary abscesses involves surgical drainage of the abscess cavity and administration of appropriate antibiotics, although medical therapy alone may be appropriate in some cases. If the diagnosis is unclear or patients do not respond to medical management, surgical decompression should be performed.
BACKGROUND: Spinal cord abscesses are rare. Acute lesions may present as spinal cord syndrome with back pain and fever, whereas chronic abscesses tend to have a less specific symptomatology, especially in elderly patients. METHODS: Case report and review of the pertinent literature. CASE REPORT: An 82-year old male with diabetes mellitus presented with a four-month history of backache and some difficulty walking without sphincter disturbance or fever. Spinal magnetic resonance imaging revealed a midthoracic intramedullary ring-like lesion that proved to be an abscess. Corticosteroids, gentamicin, and ciprofloxacin were given. The abscess resolved after three months. CONCLUSIONS: Classically, treatment of intramedullary abscesses involves surgical drainage of the abscess cavity and administration of appropriate antibiotics, although medical therapy alone may be appropriate in some cases. If the diagnosis is unclear or patients do not respond to medical management, surgical decompression should be performed.
Authors: Christian D Cerecedo-Lopez; Joshua D Bernstock; Adam A Dmytriw; Jason A Chen; Joshua I Chalif; Saksham Gupta; Joseph Driver; Kevin Huang; Susan E Stanley; Jonathan Z Li; John Chi; Yi Lu Journal: BMC Infect Dis Date: 2022-02-10 Impact factor: 3.090
Authors: Redwan Jabbar; Bartosz Szmyd; Jakub Jankowski; Weronika Lusa; Agnieszka Pawełczyk; Grzegorz Wysiadecki; R Shane Tubbs; Joe Iwanaga; Maciej Radek Journal: J Clin Med Date: 2022-08-31 Impact factor: 4.964
Authors: Paulo Eduardo Albuquerque Zito Raffa; Rafael Caiado Caixeta Vencio; Andre Costa Corral Ponce; Bruno Pricoli Malamud; Isabela Caiado Vencio; Cesar Cozar Pacheco; Felipe D'Almeida Costa; Paulo Roberto Franceschini; Roger Thomaz Rotta Medeiros; Paulo Henrique Pires Aguiar Journal: Surg Neurol Int Date: 2021-06-14