Loading...
Diagnosis is delayed after initial emergency department evaluation in an estimated 75% to 84% of patients with spinal epidural abscesses. The American College of Radiology offers guidelines of clinical “red flags” — including unexplained fever, focal neurologic deficit with progressive/disabling symptoms, active infection, immunosuppression, intravenous drug use, prolonged corticosteroid use, unexplained weight loss, enduring back pain, and history of cancer — that indicate a need for further imaging studies. To improve clinical evaluation of spinal epidural abscess, these authors designed an ICD-9 coding–based electronic query to identify all cases in the national electronic health records of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). They t…