Diabetes mellitus and spinal epidural abscess: clinical or surgical treatment?

Spinal epidural abscess (SEA) is an uncommon condition and its most important predisposing factor is diabetes mellitus. Although the treatment of choice is prompt surgical abscess evacuation, followed by antibiotic therapy, successful conservative treatment of SEA has been reported in some cases. We describe a SEA case in a 23-year old white woman with diabetes for 14 years, who was successfully treated only with antibiotics, and achieved full recovery at the fourth month of follow-up.