Symptoms:

• Chills
• Fever
• Loss of bladder or bowel control
• Loss of movement of an area of the body
• Loss of sensation of an area of the body
• Low back ache, often mild but slowly gets worse
  • Pain typically moves to the hip, leg, or feet
  • Pain may spread to the shoulder, arm, or hand
• Male impotence
• Numbness in a specific, limited area (localized)
• Sudden or rapid worsening of neurologic symptoms
• Weakness or paralysis

Signs and tests:

A physical exam often shows localized tenderness over the spine. A neurological examination may show signs of spinal cord compression, with involvement of the lower body (paraplegia) or the entire trunk, arms, and legs (quadriplegia).

The extent of nerve loss corresponds with the location of the lesion on the spine and the amount of spinal cord compression.

Tests that may be done:

• Examination of cerebrospinal fluid
• CT scan
• MRI
• Draining of abscess and culture of abscessed material