Decreased morbidity from acute bacterial spinal epidural abscesses using computed tomography and nonsurgical treatment in selected patients

Abstract

We describe 5 patients with spinal epidural abscesses in whom computed tomographic scanning confirmed diagnosis with the use myelography. One patient required urgent surgery because of rapidly deteriorating neurological status, but the other 4 were treated nonsurgically. The medical treatment of these patients and 9 others described in the literature consisted of antibiotics administered parenterally for minimum of 8 weeks, followed by oral anitibiotic therapy. Early diagnosis with computed tomographic scanning and a benign neurological state at the state at the onset of treatment were associated with good results.