title: Severe low back pain due to retroperitoneal abscess formation in diabetic patients.
abstract: We report two cases of diabetic patients with severe low back pain associated with retroperitoneal abscesses. In the first case, multiple retroperitoneal and spinal epidural abscesses were detected. Paraplegia due to the spinal epidural abscess was not relieved by drainage of the abscess and subsequent antibiotic therapy. In the second case, drainage of the retroperitoneal abscess and antibiotics were immediately started, resulting in successful recovery. Thus, we suggest that if a diabetic patient complains of low back pain, potential abscess formations should be considered and given appropriate treatment before administering epidural anesthetic injections for pain relief.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Orthopedics, Jichi Medical School, Tochigi, Japan. masami@jichi.ac.jp
authors.forename: Masami
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ohmori
authors.forename: Eiji
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Kazuihiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Harada
authors.forename: Koh-ichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sugimoto
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ohkami
authors.forename: Haruhiko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tsutsumi
authors.forename: Akio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fujimura
mesh_terms: D018784:Abdominal Abscess / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000628:therapy; D000368:Aged; D048909:Diabetes Complications; D004322:Drainage; D020802:Epidural Abscess / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D011859:Radiography; D012187:Retroperitoneal Space; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus