Rare Presentation of Meningitis Due to Lumbar Facetal Septic Abscess: A Case Report.

CASE: An elderly obese woman with comorbidities presented with acute-onset altered sensorium. She was diagnosed with meningitis and started on empirical antibiotics. She became oriented after 48 hours and mentioned that she had severe low backache in the previous week. Examination revealed bilateral lower limb weakness. Magnetic resonance imaging showed L3-L4 lumbar facetal abscess (LFA) with epidural extension. Posterior instrumented decompression was performed. Tissue culture grew Enterococcus, and the patient was administered vancomycin and linezolid. At 3 months, there was complete neurological recovery, and she was normal at the 1-year follow-up.

CONCLUSION: This report highlights the rare presentation of LFA complicating meningitis and its treatment.