[Clinical study of iliopsoas abscess in 11 cases from 2005 to 2008]

Iliopsoas abscess, a rare disease, has shown a recent alarming increase in the number of patients, especially among older people. This clinical study of iliopsoas abscess in 11 cases seen from 2005 to 2008, showed the average age of patients to be 76 years-higher than the average. Causes were often orthopedic diseases such as pyogenic spondylitis. The four most commonly recognized underlying diseases were spinal, including lumbar spinal canal stenosis and lumbar disc herniation. Antibiotic induced a cure in only 6 of 11 cases. In this conservatively treated group, average abscess diameter was significantly smaller than in the non conservatively treated group. Conservative treatment thus requires that such abscess be detected as early as possible.