Spinal Epidural Abscess in Children: Case Report and Review of the Literature

World Neurosurgery
Rebecca HoustonCatherine A Mazzola

Abstract

Spinal epidural abscess (SEA) is a rare but serious infection in the epidural space along the spinal cord. SEA should be considered in patients with backache, fever, neurological deficits and/or spinal tenderness. Early diagnosis is imperative to prevent permanent neurological sequelae. We report a case of lumbar SEA in a 13-year-old girl who was immunocompetent and presented with spinal tenderness, back pain and 4 days of fever. A lumbar magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated an epidural abscess from L3-S1. She had emergent surgical intervention. Cultures grew methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus. She was also given long-term systemic antibiotics and she made a complete recovery within 2 months. SEA in an immunocompetent pediatric without risk factors is an extremely rare condition. In the English-language literature, there are only 30 reported cases in the past 19 years; our case brings the total to 31. Non-surgical treatment has been successful in both adult and pediatric patients under certain conditions. Still, there exists a risk of deterioration with non-surgical management, even in patients for whom treatment is begun in the absence of neurologic deficits. Tracking neurological deficits in children can be chal...Continue Reading

References

Sep 1, 1992·Surgical Neurology·E S NussbaumW L Robinson
Jul 1, 1992·Clinical Infectious Diseases : an Official Publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America·A S BakerR A Baker
Sep 2, 2000·Pediatrics·M H Bair-MerrittA Collier
Dec 12, 2000·Clinical Infectious Diseases : an Official Publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America·J J Auletta, C C John
Oct 31, 2001·Child's Nervous System : ChNS : Official Journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery·K TangS Sgouros
Jan 12, 2002·Pediatric Neurosurgery·J SpearsJ M Drake
May 17, 2002·European Journal of Pediatric Surgery : Official Journal of Austrian Association of Pediatric Surgery ... [et Al] = Zeitschrift Für Kinderchirurgie·E R FlikweertF W J Hazebroek
Sep 18, 2002·The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal·Farideh NejatNahid Nasri Roodsari
Dec 15, 2004·Archives of Internal Medicine·Farhan SiddiqRaymond A Smego
Oct 26, 2005·Neurologia Medico-chirurgica·Nejmi Kiymaz, Ozgür Demir
May 13, 2006·European Journal of Pediatrics·Darja Paro-PanjanIgor Tekavcic
Feb 19, 2008·The Spine Journal : Official Journal of the North American Spine Society·Mehmet KoseMustafa Kursad Ozturk
Jun 6, 2009·Journal of Child Neurology·Partha Sekhar GhoshDebabrata Ghosh
Oct 17, 2009·Neurosurgery·Isaac O KarikariRobert E Isaacs
Feb 11, 2011·Current Infectious Disease Reports·Gustavo PradillaDaniele Rigamonti
Mar 2, 2011·European Journal of Pediatrics·Elpis MantadakisAthanassios Chatzimichael
May 14, 2011·Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health·Briony HazeltonMark Dexter
Jun 7, 2011·Pediatric Emergency Care·James L RookSteven DeRoos
Mar 25, 2014·Pediatric Neurology·Manish Prasad, Natasha De Vere
Jun 1, 2014·Pediatric Annals·Corey J RoodReyaad A Hayek
Jul 30, 2014·The American Journal of Emergency Medicine·Tyler J Harris, Jason P Seamon
Jan 4, 2017·Pediatrics in Review·Reem ShawarShawn Rowles
Jul 5, 2018·Child's Nervous System : ChNS : Official Journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery·Chandan B MohantyChandrashekhar E Deopujari

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations

Apr 16, 2020·Child's Nervous System : ChNS : Official Journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery·Pietro SpennatoGiuseppe Cinalli
May 6, 2021·Surgical Neurology International·Ryo ShojiYoichi Shimada

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

CRISPR & Staphylococcus

CRISPR-Cas system enables the editing of genes to create or correct mutations. Staphylococci are associated with life-threatening infections in hospitals, as well as the community. Here is the latest research on how CRISPR-Cas system can be used for treatment of Staphylococcal infections.