Skip to main content
 
Notice: Users may be experiencing issues with displaying some pages on stanfordhealthcare.org. We are working closely with our technical teams to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience.
Stanford Health Care

High thoracic spinal infection following upper gastrointestinal work-up.

High thoracic spinal infection following upper gastrointestinal work-up. Journal of clinical neuroscience : official journal of the Neurosurgical Society of Australasia Chen, Y., Kim, B. J., Lee, S. H., Hu, S. S. 2007; 14 (11): 1132-5

Abstract

Spinal infections originating from the gastrointestinal tract are rare. We report a patient in whom esophageal rupture during endoscopy led to spinal infection with neurological deficit. An 80-year-old Asian man with a history of recent endoscopic gastrointestinal investigation presented to our clinic with the chief complaints of upper thoracic discomfort, chest pain and mild intermittent fever. Progressive weakness and numbness in both lower extremities had developed during the previous two weeks. A thoracic spine MRI showed a space-occupying lesion with involvement of the T2 and T3 vertebral bodies including an epidural abscess. After surgical decompression, the patient gradually recovered power in his lower extremities. Early diagnosis is a key factor to avoid neurologic sequelae in the treatment of patients with spinal infection. Physicians need to be aware of this potential complication following endoscopic gastrointestinal investigation.

View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jocn.2006.02.023

View details for PubMedID 17499509