Article Figures & Data
Tables
- Table 1
Demographic data of 150 patients presenting with spinal epidural abscess without neurologic deficit.
Variable n (%) Sex Men 81 (54.0) Women 69 (46.0) Race White 135 (90.0) Black 7 (4.6) Other 8 (5.3) Smoking Current 22 (14.6) Former 47 (31.3) Alcohol 48 (32.0) Dialysis 5 (3.3) Positive blood cultures 97 (64.7) Intravenous drug abusers 2 (1.3) Active malignancy 9 (6.0) Endocarditis 69 (46.0) Insurance status Medicaid 7 (4.7) Medicare 60 (40.0) Private 67 (44.7) Uninsured 9 (6.0) PCP Has PCP 111 (74.0) No PCP 9 (6.0) Employment Employed 70 (46.7) Unemployed 29 (19.3) Retired 32 (21.3) Incarcerated 11 (7.3) PCP, primary care provider.
- Table 2
Demographic data of patients completing conservative therapy vs those requiring surgical intervention.
Variable Conservative (N = 108) Surgery (N = 42) P Value Age (y) 60.8 ± 14.0 59.2 ± 10.6 0.45 Sex Men 66 15 Women 42 27 0.005 Race White 98 37 Black 6 1 Other 4 4 0.50 Body mass index 32.4 ± 11.2 30.6 ± 7.2 0.25 Diabetes 78 29 0.14 MRSA 9 12 0.001 MSSA 70 18 0.02 Other organism 38 24 0.02 Above conus 49 26 0.07 Immunocompromised 2 0 0.37 Viral hepatitis 11 4 0.90 Active malignancy 4 5 0.058 Endocarditis 48 21 0.54 IVDA 2 0 0.37 Smoking Current 16 6 0.93 Former 32 15 0.47 Never 60 21 0.54 Alcohol use 37 11 0.34 Dialysis 4 1 0.69 Positive blood cultures 68 29 0.48 Average WBC, K/uL 12.9 ± 7.1 14.0 ± 6.8 0.38 Average CRP, mg/L 14.0 ± 10.2 21.3 ± 17.6 0.02 Note: Data presented as n or mean ± SD. Statistically significant findings are in boldface.
CRP, C-reactive protein; IVDA, intravenous drug abusers; MRSA, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus; MSSA, methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus; WBC, white blood cell.
Socioeconomic Factor Conservative (N = 108) Surgery (N = 42) P Value OR 95% CI Salary Mean $64,746 $62,615 SD $19,073 $16,653 0.50 Insurance, n Insured 105 36 Uninsured 3 6 0.008 5.83 1.39–24.54 Payer status, n Medicaid 3 4 Medicare 47 13 Private 49 18 0.91 PCP, n Has PCP 103 38 No PCP 5 4 0.27 2.17 0.55–8.50 Employment, n Unemployed 18 11 Employed 54 16 0.13 2.06 0.80–5.25 Prison status, n Not incarcerated 101 39 Incarceration 7 3 0.88 1.11 0.27–4.51 PCP, primary care provider.
- Table 4
Subgroup analysis of need for surgical intervention compared with estimated income quartiles.
Quartile Surgical Conservative Total % Failure of Medical Management Q1 16 21 37 43.20% Q2 8 30 38 21.10% Q3 11 27 38 28.90% Q4 7 30 37 18.90% Note: P = 0.08
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