Abscess - spinal cord

• Chills
• Fever
• Loss of bladder or bowel control
• Loss of movement of an area of the body below the abscess
• Loss of sensation of an area of the body below the abscess
• Low backache, often mild but slowly gets worse
  • Pain typically moves to the hip, leg, or feet
  • Pain may spread to the shoulder, arm, or hand
• Male impotence
• Severe back pain

A physical exam often shows tenderness over the spine. An exam may show signs of:

• Spinal cord compression
• Paralysis of the lower body (paraplegia) or of the entire trunk, arms, and legs (quadriplegia)
• Changes in sensation below the area of involvement

The amount of nerve loss depends on where the lesion is located on the spine and how much it is compressing the spinal cord.

Tests that may be done:

• CT scan of the spine
• Draining of abscess
• Gram stain and culture of abscess material
• Examination of cerebrospinal fluid
• MRI of the spine

Images

Central nervous system

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Spinal cord abscess Overview

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Spinal cord abscess Treatment

Review Date: 09/15/2010
Reviewed By: David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; Jatin M. Vyas, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Assistant in Medicine, Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)