2005 Volume 12 Issue 2 Pages 82-86
We performed percutaneous epidural drainage and ablution for the treatment of an idiopathic epidural abscess.
A healthy 17-year-old man consulted our hospital with a chief complaint of severe back pain and fever. Magnetic resonance imaging study showed a thoracic epidural abscess.
The patient had no apparent infectious site as the source of the abscess nor immunological deficiency as the background. We performed percutaneous drainage and ablution with an epidural needle and yellowish pus was drained. Staphylococcus aureus was detected as the pathogen. Antibiotic therapy was administered after drainage. The epidural abscess had disappeared on magnetic resonance imaging study performed 10 days after percutaneous drainage.
This case may suggest that percutaneous drainage and ablution is indicated for the early phase of epidural abscess without neurological complications.
