Two Cases of Spinal Epidural Abscess in Hemodialysis Patients.
10.12701/yujm.2013.30.1.36
- Author:
Young Hwan KIM
1
;
Jin Taek YOO
;
Soon Myung JUNG
;
Sang Chang KWON
;
Seung Min RYU
;
Mun JANG
;
Jung CHOI
Author Information
1. Department of Internal Medicine, St. Mary's Medical Center, Busan, Korea. openarmss@nate.com
- Publication Type:Case Report
- Keywords:
Epidural abscess;
Hemodialysis;
Low back pain
- MeSH:
Back Pain;
Catheters;
Dialysis;
Early Diagnosis;
Epidural Abscess;
Fever;
Humans;
Incidence;
Low Back Pain;
Magnetics;
Magnets;
Renal Dialysis;
Substance Abuse, Intravenous
- From:Yeungnam University Journal of Medicine
2013;30(1):36-38
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
While epidural abscesses are rare in hemodialysis patients, they can cause severe neurological complications that can be fatal because only nonspecific symptoms appear in the early stages of the infection. Their incidence increased recently due to intravenous drug abuse, invasive spinal surgery, percutaneous vertebral procedures, and the development of diagnostic modalities. The increased number of cases is related to the use of dialysis catheters in hemodialysis patients. If a patient has fever and back pain, doctors should eliminate the possibility of other common diseases and consider spinal epidural infection. Early diagnosis and proper treatment are important to prevent neurological complications. In this paper, the symptoms, blood work, magnetic resonanceimaging (MRI) findings, and clinical course of two hemodialysis patients who developed spinal epidural abscesses are described.
