Late Onset Spinal Epidural Abscess After Spinal Anesthesia in a Patient With Anklosing Spondylitis: A Case Report

In this study we present a 61-year-old female patient who was admitted to the hospital with dorsal and lower back pain and recent paraparesis. There was no history of trauma. She was admitted to the hospital due to suffering from ankylosing spondylitis for the past 35 years. Moreover, she had undergone a total hip replacement 2 months prior under spinal anesthesia. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed spinal cord compression due to a mass lesion involving the spinal epidural region at the T11 to T12 level. There were also some imaging findings attributable to discitis. The patient%u2019s neurological condition required an urgent surgical decompression. Spinal epidural abscess is an uncommon complication of spinal anesthesia and invovement of the thoracic region is even rarer. Surgical decompression and antibiotherapy are the treatments of choice for patients with spinal epidural abscesses. Neurological prognosis is generally not promising, particularly when treatment is not begun within the first 72 hours