title: Spinal epidural abscess presenting with abdominal pain.
abstract: We report a case of spinal epidural abscess presenting as abdominal pain. An 7-year-old boy presented with abdominal pain. He was operated on under suspicion of appendicitis. During operation, no abnormalities were found. Postoperatively, the abdominal pain did not subside. Subsequently, the boy developed neurological abnormalities. MRI showed a spinal epidural abscess. A laminectomy was performed and the boy was treated with antibiotics; he recovered well. This case showed that it is important to consider a spinal epidural abscess as a cause of abdominal pain with fever in children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, Sophia Children's Hospital, University Hospital Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: E R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Flikweert
authors.forename: R R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Postema
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Briel
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Lequin
authors.forename: F W J
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: Hazebroek
mesh_terms: D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000209:etiology*; D002648:Child; D020802:Epidural Abscess / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013122:Spinal Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*