• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• 제9권1호
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• pp.275-278
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• 1996

The placement of epidural catheter may cause complications such as epidural hematoma, epidural abscess and neural damage. Among the above complications, epidural abscess is a rare but serious complication. This report pertains to a diabetic metlitus patient who developed spinal epidural and subdural abscess after continuous epidural catheterization for management of pain caused by reflex sympathetic dystrophy. The patient experienced urinary incontinence, as a neurologic sign, 8 days after epidural catherization. In was considered that the poor prognosis was due to a combination effects of a delayed visit to the hospital for treatment, rapid progression of abscess and uncontrolled blood sugar level. We therefore recommend aseptic technique and proper control of blood sugar level to prevent infection during and after epidural catheterization for diabetic patients. Early diagnosis of epidural abscess following surgical procedure must be required to avoid sequelae.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• 제51권6호
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• pp.383-387
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• 2012

Spinal epidural abscess, if especially caused by Brucellosis is a very rare disease which is usually a consequence of spondylodiscitis. The spinal column can be affected at any joint; however, the lumbar spine is the most common region, especially at the level of the L4-5 and L5-S1. The frequency of spinal involvement usually seen at the lumbar, thoracic and cervical spine respectively. As an occupational disease in farmers, veterinaries, butchers, laboratory staff and shepherds, brucellosis can also occur by direct contact to animals and infected materials or ingestion of raw cheese, milk or unpasteurized milk products. In this study, we presented two cases with cervical spinal epidural abscess caused by brucella melitensis, which was successfully treated by surgical approach. Initial treatment was combined with antibiotic therapy after the surgery for 3 months.

• 한방재활의학과학회지
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• 제24권4호
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• pp.195-201
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• 2014

The objective of this study is to report the improvement of one patient with physical sequelas induced by spinal epidural abscess surgery. The patient was treated by acupuncture therapy with pulsed electromagnetic therapy and herb medicine. We evaluated the effectiveness by numerical rating scale (NRS). As a result, the patient improved significantly NRS score. And the patient's symptoms were alleviated. We guess that the causes of the patient symptoms are chronic inflammation and fibrosis of dural. We conclude that acupuncture therapy with pulsed electromagnetic therapy is an effective treatment to reduce the residual pain after spinal epidural abscess surgery. But there is a limit on this study due to sufficient number of case. Further studies will be needed.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• 제9권2호
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• pp.430-433
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• 1996

It is common practice to use epidural catheter for anesthesia or for postoperative analgesia and other kinds of pain control. However, Intraspinal infection associated with this practice is rare event. We report a case of spinal subdural abscess occuring in patient who had recently received epidural catheterization. The cause in this case is not certain, although infection from the epidural catheter is the best possibility. We recommand an aseptic technique in all procedure for epidural or spinal analgesia.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• 제18권2호
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• pp.235-239
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• 2005

Although the incidence of epidural abscess is rare, once it occurs, its high morbidity rate and high mortality rate create a great deal of serious sequalae for these patient, if this condition is not diagnosed in time. We experienced a case of epidural abscess after performing percutaneous vertebroplasty in a patient who had a lumbar spinal compression fracture. This case will remind the pain clinician of the possibility of epidural abscess after such a procedure.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• 제30권3호
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• pp.395-399
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• 2001

척추 경막외 임파종은 전체 임파종의 7%정도를 차지하며, 가장 흔한 증상으로 척수 압박 증세를 유발하는 것으로 알려져 있다. 그 중에서도 원발성 척추 경막외 임파종, 즉 다른 장기의 침범 소견 없이 척추에만 국한되어 나타난 임파종은, 당뇨병 환자에서 급성 척수 압박 증상으로 나타났을 때, 척추 경막외 농양과의 감별을 요한다. 저자들은 48세의 여자 당뇨 환자에서 흉추부의 통증으로 내원 1개월 전까지 여러 차례 침술치료를 받고 난 후 통증이 악화되고 급성 하반신 부전마비와 배뇨 장애 및 감염 징후가 있어 본원에 내원하여, 병력과 제반 검사상 수술전에 척추 경막외 농양으로 진단되었던 원발성 척추 경막외 임파종 1례를 수술 치험하고 보고하는 바이다.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• 제9권2호
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• pp.439-442
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• 1996

Continuous epidural analgesia has been used widely for chronic pain control, especially in cancer patients. As one of the complications, paraplegia developed during continuous epidural analgesia may be caused by epidural abscess, epidural hematoma, neural damage, chronic adhesive arachnoiditis, anterior spinal artery syndrome, delayed migration of extradural catheter into subdural space or subarachnoid space and preexisting disease. A 55-years-old male with lung cancer was implanted with continuous thoracic epidural catheter for pain control. Twenty days after catheterization, moderate back pain, weakness of lower extremity and urinary difficulty were developed. We suspected epidural abscess at first and made differential diagnosis with MRI which showed metastatic cancer at T2-4 spine, And compressed spinal cord was the main cause of the lower extremity paralysis.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• 제43권1호
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• pp.37-40
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• 2008

Brucellosis, a zoonosis with worldwide distribution, is a systemic infection caused by facultative intracellular bacteria of the genus Brucella, which can involve multiple organs and tissues. We report an uncommon case of spondylodiscitis with epidural abscess due to Brucella in a male stockbreeder. Diagnosis was based on clinical history, and supported by Brucella serology and magnetic resonance imaging. Clinical and radiological improvement were observed with a combined antimicrobial therapy of doxycycline, rifampicin, and gentamycin.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• 제29권8호
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• pp.1074-1079
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• 2000

We report a case of pyogenic spondylitis on L2 and L3 with diffuse epidural abscess up to T4 to L3 and large psoas abscess. A forty-nine-year old male was presented with progressive back pain, left flank pain and ab-dominal distention, weakness of the both legs and voiding and defecation difficulty during last 2 months. Initially multiple coronal hemilaminectomies from T4 to T12 were done for the treatment of diffuse thoracic epidural ab-scess. Then second operation via left retroperitoneal approach was performed for lumbar spondylitis and psoas abscess on third day after initial operation. After removal and curettage of pyogenic psoas and epidural abscess and spondylitis (L2-L3), iliac bone grafting with Keneda instrumentation from L1 to L4 was done simultaneously. Postoperative course has been unevenful without recurrent infection. The literature on diffuse epidural and large psoas abscess with pyogenic spondylitis are reviewed and instrumentation for stabilization of pyogenic spondylitis is also discussed.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• 제30권1호
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• pp.36-38
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• 2013

While epidural abscesses are rare in hemodialysis patients, they can cause severe neurological complications that can be fatal because only nonspecific symptoms appear in the early stages of the infection. Their incidence increased recently due to intravenous drug abuse, invasive spinal surgery, percutaneous vertebral procedures, and the development of diagnostic modalities. The increased number of cases is related to the use of dialysis catheters in hemodialysis patients. If a patient has fever and back pain, doctors should eliminate the possibility of other common diseases and consider spinal epidural infection. Early diagnosis and proper treatment are important to prevent neurological complications. In this paper, the symptoms, blood work, magnetic resonanceimaging (MRI) findings, and clinical course of two hemodialysis patients who developed spinal epidural abscesses are described.