Abstract
Cervical discitis (CD) is a critical infectious disease with inflammation and severe pain. A blood culture is performed to detect the primary causative factor because direct punctures of cervical abscesses using CT or fluoroscopy is difficult. Ultrasound-guided (USG) real-time puncture has been generalized for nerve blocks in pain medicine. We report two cases of CD treated by USG puncture drainage. Case 1: A 62-year-old man was admitted as a result of high fever and suspected peritonitis. CD on C6/7 with abscess was found by an MRI. We performed USG paracentesis using a microconvex probe. It provided drastic improvement to his symptoms and helped in the identification of causatives. Case 2: A 51-year-old woman was transferred with high fever and neck pain induced by C5/6 CD with abscess. A USG puncture drainage performed using linear probe resulted in an improvement of her symptoms, as in case 1. We conclude that USG real-time in-plane puncture drainage for a cervical abscess is useful for diagnosis, treatment, and pain relief in CD.
