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Author: Patrick Wallace, OMS-IV
Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine
AAEM/RSA Education Committee
Spinal Epidural Abscess
Spinal epidural abscess (SEA) is a potentially debilitating and life-threatening cause of low back pain. It occurs in 0.2 to 2 cases per 10,000 hospital admissions.[1-3] However, recent articles note the incidence is increasing as much as five-fold.[4,5] SEA most commonly occurs in the thoracic and lumbar regions.[4,6] The difficulty in diagnosing an SEA is due to the nonspecific symptoms that often mimic the more common benign low back pain complaints seen in the emergency department. Making the diagnosis prior to the development of neurological symptoms is rare, so this cause should always be considered in the differential.
