The Clinical Consideration for Spinal Epidural Abscess

Infection involving the spinal cord and cauda equina are much less common than intracranial infection. Among the above, bacterial infection in spinal epidural space are relatively uncommon but well recognized entity in adult and children. More than 300 cases with spinal epidural abscess are described in the literatures. Because of its rarity, there is delay in diagnosis and irreversible neurological sequelae in high percentage of cases. Infection of the spinal epidural space are accompanied by fever, tachycardia, headache, pain and tenderness in the back, weakness of the lower extremities and finally a complete paraplegia. The modes of infection are 1) direct extension from inflammatory process in adjacent tissues 2) perforating wounds or lumbar puncture 3) hematogenous route from the remote origin. The most frequent causative organism is staphylococcus aureus always, but pneumococcus, streptococcus, pseudomonas, typhoid bacillus, pyocyanus, oidium coccidioides and fungus are causative organisms occasionally. In spinal epidural abscess with complete paraplegia, the neurologic sequelae are permanent and unhappy. So the spinal epidural abscess is neurosurgical emergency in which early diagnosis and prompt surgery are necessary to avert permanent cord damage. Recently, the spinal epidural abscess has increasing tendency. We have treated 5 cases with spinal epidural abscesses from Nov. 1974 to Apr. 1976. The followings are results ; 1) Sex incidence showed male 2, female 3 and age incidence ranged from 21 years to 38 years, but 4th decade was most common. 2) Most common mode of infection was unknown though all cases have been applied the acupunture for the back pain several times. 3) Most avaliable procedures of diagnosis were the usual infectious symptoms, leukocytosis, increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate, obstructive responce by Queckenstedt test and findings of myelography, including increased protein and pleocytosis in cerebrospinal fluid. 4) All 5 cases had been performed total laminectomy from T3-L3, according to the lesions commonly in thoracic spine with spinal epidural abscess and had been treated with penicillin G, Methicillin and Geopen. 5) The prognosis was poor in 4 cases with complete paraplegia but 1 case with incomplete paralysis recovered completely.

The Clinical Consideration for the Acute Subdural Hematoma

Acute subdural hematoma is commonly occurred by severe or minor head injury, which is encountered to neurosurgeons and needed the emergency operation. But the mortality rate of the acute subdural hematoma is still very high(60-90%) in spite of the recently advanced neuroradiology. Neurosurgery and anesthesiology the authors had managed 50 cases of acute subdural hematomas, confirmed surgically, during 24 months from march 1971 to march 1973 and observed clinically. Followings are the results. 1. The male sex was predominantly high in incidence, 6 to 1. the age incidence was high in the 3 rd decade to 5 th decade which is in vigorous social activity. 2. The most common mode of the head injury was the traffic accident in 35 of 50 cases. 15 cases were from other injuries. 3. The level of consciousness of the acute subdural hematoma was various from drowsy consciousness to coma. The lucid interval was developed in 18% of those. 44 cases showed papillary change. 39(88.6%) of these were ipsilateral mydriasis. In 23 of 50 cases had motor disturbance and 78.2% of 23 cases showed contralateral hemiplegia or hemiparesis. The papillary change and hemiplegia were valuable to know the side of hematoma. 4. One of the best diagnostic procedure for the acute subdural hematoma was the angiography. The authors performed the carotid angiography before surgery in all cases. The avascular zone of the angiographic finding was crescentic form in 71.4% of all and the most common site was the parietotemporal region, but rare in the posterior fossa in one case. 5. The mortality rate was 46%. the high mortality was observed in the condition of the old age, persistant coma after surgery, bilateral mydriatic fixed pupil, concomitant profound brain damage and brain swelling. 3 cases of non survival which were in the persistant coma after surgery were died of the complication of severe decubital ulcer, septicemia, pneumonia and cachexia. 6. In 27 survival cases, the hemiplegia, oculomotor palsy, organic dementia and epilepsy were observed as sequelae, which were progressively recovered. 9 of 27 cases were completely recovered to normal social life. But the epilepsy and organic dementia were falt to be the worst sequelae remaining the problem.