A case report of a 4-year-old boy with intradural spinal cord abscess successfully treated with adjuvant hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

Intradural spinal cord abscesses are rare infections in early childhood and usually result from pre-existing congenital anomalies of the spinal column. The formation of abscess may be the result of hematogenous spread. It is treated by surgical and parenteral antibiotic treatment, but some special cases may require additional treatments. This article presents a 4-year-old male patient who was operated because of spina bifida (meningocele and tethered cord) at the external center, and upon complains of not being able to walk after one month, he was operated with the diagnosis of spinal intradural abscess and referred to us to continue his treatment. The patient was taken into an emergency operation when the spinal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) taken in our hospital showed a progression of intradural abscess. Due to no regression of neurological deficits in the follow-up and with the risk of a second operation, application of antimicrobial therapy as well as hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) was planned. At the end of 20 HBOT treatment sessions, the patient started to walk with support and the antibiotic treatment was completed in six weeks. In situations where surgical and antimicrobial treatment, the main treatments for children with critical spinal abscess are unresponsive, HBOT should be considered as an additional treatment method.