Journal of the Chinese Medical Association
Volume 72, Issue 4 , Pages 210-213, April 2009

Post-traumatic Osteomyelitis with Spinal Epidural Abscess of Cervical Spine in a Young Man with No Predisposing Factor

Department of Neurosurgery, Chiayi Christian Hospital, Chiayi, Taiwan, R.O.C.

Received 14 April 2008; accepted 3 November 2008.

Article Outline

Spinal osteomyelitis with epidural abscess is a rare disease. Most patients have 1 or more predisposing factors, such as impaired immune system secondary to diabetes mellitus, chemotherapy for cancer, immunological compromised disease, and chronic renal or hepatic impairment. We present a case of a physically steady young man without any predisposing risk factor who suffered from cervical osteomyelitis with epidural abscess after neck blunt injury. This patient recovered well after one-stage anterior surgical debridement with implant instrumentation and proper antibiotics treatment. The initial accurate diagnosis rate of spinal epidural abscess is low, even in patients with predisposing factor(s). We present this case to raise the attention of medical staff to this disease in patients with or without any predisposing factor(s) in order to establish early diagnosis and treatment. Our case report also indicates that with adequate debridement and antibiotic coverage, one-stage surgery is a safe and efficacious method to treat patients with cervical spinal epidural abscess.

Key Words:  cervical spine , epidural abscess , osteomyelitis

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PII: S1726-4901(09)70057-7

doi:10.1016/S1726-4901(09)70057-7

Journal of the Chinese Medical Association
Volume 72, Issue 4 , Pages 210-213, April 2009

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