A 40-year-old man’s initial diagnoses did not explain all of his signs and symptoms—particularly
when they took a calamitous turn. The patient, who had a history of L4-L5 laminectomy
for lumbar radiculopathy, presented after 1 week of progressively worsening abdominal
pain, difficulty walking, and fever. He had recently undergone rotator cuff surgery,
which was complicated by a small wound abscess. His abdominal pain began as dull discomfort
in the left inguinal region, spreading deep into the left hip and right inguinal region,
with radiation to the back. The pain was accompanied by intermittent left-leg weakness
that resolved spontaneously with positional changes.
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Article info
Footnotes
Michael Bettmann, MD, Section Editor
Identification
Copyright
© 2007 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
