Abstract
An 80-year-old woman presented with 2 days of progressive quadriparesis, difficulty voiding, and fever. She had received acupuncture in the cervical and lumbar regions for 5 days beginning a week before. Whole-spine MRI showed multiple epidural abscesses at levels C3-7, L3-5, and L5-S1 (figure). Broad-spectrum antibiotics were administered, and the abscesses were surgically drained. Strains of Staphylococcus aureus were isolated. Single epidural abscesses after acupuncture have been reported, but multiple abscesses due to acupuncture are extremely rare.1,2
An 80-year-old woman presented with 2 days of progressive quadriparesis, difficulty voiding, and fever. She had received acupuncture in the cervical and lumbar regions for 5 days beginning a week before. Whole-spine MRI showed multiple epidural abscesses at levels C3-C7, L3-L5, and L5-S1 (figure). Broad-spectrum antibiotics were administered, and the abscesses were surgically drained. Strains of Staphylococcus aureus were isolated. Single epidural abscesses after acupuncture have been reported, but multiple abscesses due to acupuncture are extremely rare.1,2
AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS
Hyun-Jeung Yu: writing the manuscript. Ku-Eun Lee, Hyun Seok Kang, Sook Young Roh: review and discussion of the manuscript.
STUDY FUNDING
No targeted funding reported.
DISCLOSURE
The authors report no disclosures relevant to the manuscript. Go to Neurology.org for full disclosures.
REFERENCES
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- 2.Yazawa S, Ohi T, Sugimoto S, Satoh S, Matsukura S. Cervical spinal epidural abscess following acupuncture: successful treatment with antibiotics. Intern Med 1998;37:161–165 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]