Title: Scan Negative Cauda Equina Syndrome<br/>Author: Brian Corwell<br/><a href='http://umem.org/profiles/faculty/294/'>[Click to email author]</a><hr/><p class="MsoNormal">
Cauda Equina Syndrome is a medical emergency that is considered in all patients who present to the ED with lower back pain.<o:p></o:p></p>
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Clinical presentation is variable in nature and may include some combination of lower back pain, bowel or bladder dysfunction, sexual dysfunction, saddle anesthesia with motor/sensory abnormalities. <o:p></o:p></p>
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MRI is the gold standard for diagnosis<o:p></o:p></p>
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Many of us have encountered a scenario where a patient with high clinical suspicion returns with scan negative MRI. <o:p></o:p></p>
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Studies have attempted to characterize this population. <o:p></o:p></p>
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Patients in the scan negative group had an increased prevalence of functional disorders (37% vs. 9%), functional neurologic disorders (12% vs. 0%), and psychiatric comorbidities (53% vs. 20%). <o:p></o:p></p>
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Further study is needed to characterize this association.<o:p></o:p></p>
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Hospitals may consider individualized neurologic and psychiatric referral for certain patients who are scan negative in the future.<o:p></o:p></p>
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Is scan-negative cauda equina syndrome a functional neurological disorder? A pilot study. Gibson et al., Eur J Neurol 2020, Feb 19.</p>
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Is scan-negative cauda equina syndrome a functional neurological disorder? A pilot study. Gibson et al., Eur J Neurol 2020, Feb 19.</p>
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