[Spinal epidural abscess without spondylodiscitis. Description of four cases]

We performed a retrospective study about patients diagnosed of spinal epidural abscess without concurrent spondylodiscitis, collected in the last five years in our hospital. We describe four patients, all of them males, with ages ranged from 59 to 67 years old. All patients presented fever, elevated phase reactants and spinal pain, with cord compression in three of them. Two patients had risk factors: diabetes mellitus and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. S. aureus was isolated in three patients, and S. agalactiae in the other one. The posterior epidural space was the most frequently affected, with variable location along the spinal cord. Three patients required surgical operation, and the other one was treated only with antibiotics. All patients demonstrated a complete clinical, analytical and radiological resolution.