Risk factors Increased intra-abdominal pressure eg, constipation, diarrhoea, benign prostatic hypertrophy, pregnancy, severe or chronic cough (eg, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cystic fibrosis, whooping cough). [4] Previous surgery. [5] Pelvic floor dysfunction. [6] Parasitic infections eg, amoebiasis, schistosomiasis. [7] Neurological disease eg, previous lower back or pelvic trauma, ...

Cauda equina syndrome is a neurosurgical emergency that requires prompt intervention to prevent irreversible spinal cord paralysis. This article describes how we managed a case of an obese pregnant patient who was placed in the prone position for surgery. We discuss the evidence behind the management options and choice of operating tables available.

Cauda equina syndrome (CES) is a rare but serious neurosurgical emergency that can have devastating longlasting neurologic consequences. CES caused by herniated lumbar discs is rare in the literature. We report an unusual case of incomplete CES due to lumbar disc herniation. The patient presented to our emergency department with acute onset of low back pain, saddle (perineal) anaesthesia, urina...

OBJECTIVE : The primary purpose of this study was to determine the characteristics and outcomes of the patients admitted at our clinics diagnosed with cauda equina syndrome (CES). Secondarily, this study will serve as a basis for other comparative studies aiming at a better understanding of this condition and its epidemiology. METHODS : We conducted a retrospective study by reviewing the medi...

Spinal epidural hematoma is a well known complication of spinal surgery. Clinically insignificant small epidural hematomas develop in most spinal surgeries following laminectomy. However, the incidence of clinically significant postoperative spinal epidural hematomas that result in neurological deficits is extremely rare. In this report, we present a 33-year-old female patient whose spinal surg...

The authors present distinctive computed tomographic (CT) findings in two cases of long-standing ankylosing spondylitis accompanied by the cauda equina syndrome. Multiple, asymmetric erosions of the posterior elements of the lumbar spine on CT were correlated with thecal diverticula demonstrated by myelography. The pathogenesis of these erosions may be related to arachnoiditis in the early phas...

Intrathecal paragangliomas are an unusual cause of the cauda equina syndrome. Although well documented in the neuropathology and neurosurgery literature, only one case report has appeared in the radiology literature to date [1]. Recognition of the tumor is important because of its biologic characteristics ; which differ significantly from ependymoma, the tumor with which it is most commonly con...

We have treated 15 patients with massive lumbar disc herniations non-operatively. Repeat MR scanning after a mean 24 months (5 to 56) showed a dramatic resolution of the herniation in 14 patients. No patient developed a cauda equina syndrome. We suggest that this condition may be more benign than previously thought.

Eleven patients with brucellosis presented with neurological features closely simulating transient ischaemic attacks, cerebral infarction, acute confusional state, motor neuron disease, progressive multisystem degeneration, polyradiculoneuropathy, neuralgic amyotrophy, sciatica and cauda equina syndrome. Most patients improved quickly after adequate antibiotic treatment but chronic cases respon...

Sequestered disc fragments typically occur ventrally but can also migrate dorsally or intradurally. At times, atypical disc herniations can be misinterpreted on imaging as other lesions, such as neoplasms, hematomas, or abscesses. We present an uncommon case of a patient presenting with cauda equina syndrome secondary to an enhancing sequestered disc fragment mimicking a tumor.