The great majority of psoas abscesses are chronic in nature, and usually secondary to a tuberculous focus in the vertebral column or pelvic bones. A certain number, however, are more acute. The fact that the correct diagnosis is seldom made in these cases seems to be due mainly to the possible existence of the condition not being realized for the clinical signs are constant and characteristic. Although the older textbooks, such as Erichsen's Surgery, contain a fairly comprehensive list of the possible sites of origin of psoas abscesses other than the spine, and the signs which may be of help in their differential diagnosis, most of the modern textbooks give the impression that the condition is practically always associated with spinal disease. Some of them do not even mention any other cause, while others briefly refer to the possibility of the abscess being secondary to lesions such as suppurative appendicitis, perinephritis, or sacro-iliac disease. The references in the literature are scanty, but there are indications that this is due more to the condition being overlooked than to its rarity.

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