Epidural infection: Is it really an abscess?

BACKGROUND: We reviewed the literature regarding the pathogenesis, clinical presentation, diagnosis, and management of spinal epidural abscess (SEA).

METHODS: Utilizing PubMed, we performed a comprehensive review of the literature on SEAs.

RESULTS: SEA remains a difficult infectious process to diagnose. This is particularly true in the early stages, when patients remain neurologically intact, and before the classic triad of fever, back pain, and neurologic deficit develop. However, knowledge of risk factors, obtaining serologic markers, and employing magnetic resonance scans facilitate obtaining a prompt and accurate diagnosis. In patients without neurologic deficits, lone medical therapy may prove effective.

CONCLUSIONS: More prevalent over the previous three decades, SEA remains a rare but deleterious infectious process requiring prompt identification and treatment. Historically, identification of SEA is often elusive, diagnosis is delayed, and clinicians contend that surgical debridement is the cornerstone of treatment. Early surgery leads to more favorable outcomes and preserves neurologic function, particularly in the early stages of disease when minimal or no neurologic deficits are present. The advent of improved imaging modalities, diagnostic techniques, and multidrug antimicrobial agents has enabled medical/spinal surgical consultants to more rapidly diagnose SEA and institute more effective early medical treatment (e.g., data suggest that lone medical therapy may prove effective in the early management of SEA).