Health Dictionary
Reliable, easy-to-read patient information on common medical conditions — written in plain language, free of jargon, and grounded in current evidence. Browse the most frequent diagnoses, understand what they mean for everyday life, and learn which steps and questions help you have a focused conversation with your doctor.
Epidural abscess physical examination
Introduction
Overview
Overview
Physical examination of patients with epidural abscess is usually remarkable for fever, back pain, and generally well appearance, often contributing to misdiagnosis.
Physical Examination
Physical Examination
Physical examination of patients with epidural abscess is usually remarkable for the following:[1][2][3][4]
General appearance
Patient generally appears complaining of malaise and fever.
Vital signs
HEENT
Back
Extremities
- Focal pain radiating from back
Neuromuscular
- Altered mental status
- Seizures
- Hemiparesis
- Weakness
- Altered reflexes
- Paresthesia
- Paralysis
- Spinal cord dysfunction, with sphincter incompetence and sensory and motor deficits
- Meningism
References
References
- ↑ Darouiche, Rabih O. (2006). “Spinal Epidural Abscess”. New England Journal of Medicine. 355 (19): 2012–2020. doi:10.1056/NEJMra055111. ISSN 0028-4793.
- ↑ Fountas KN, Duwayri Y, Kapsalaki E, Dimopoulos VG, Johnston KW, Peppard SB; et al. (2004). “Epidural intracranial abscess as a complication of frontal sinusitis: case report and review of the literature”. South Med J. 97 (3): 279–82, quiz 283. PMID 15043336.
- ↑ Mandell, Gerald L.; Bennett, John E. (John Eugene); Dolin, Raphael. (2010). Mandell, Douglas, and Bennett’s principles and practice of infectious disease. Philadelphia, PA: Churchill Livingstone/Elsevier. ISBN 0-443-06839-9.
- ↑ Schlossberg, David (2008). Clinical infectious disease. Cambridge New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521871129.
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: João André Alves Silva, M.D. [2]; Anthony Gallo, B.S. [3]