Spinal epidural abscesses are uncommon, but potentially devastating and often fatal. They can be found in normal patients, but they are more prevalent in immunocompromised patients, such as intravenous drug users, diabetics, chronic renal failure patients, pregnant women, and others. Timely diagnosis and treatment are the keys to optimizing outcome. Traditionally, treatment has comprised parenteral antibiotics and possible surgical intervention, such as decompression by pus drainage. We treated a long level (T4-L1) epidural abscess in a diabetic patient who had to undergo emergent long level decompression and drainage due to complete paralysis of the lower extremities and progression of neurologic deficit toward the upper thoracic level. Although lower extremity paralysis has not improved, the patient has completely recovered from lower extremity anesthesia. Further follow-up was not done because the patient expired due to sepsis eight month after surgery.

In unstable femoral trochanteric fracture, we usually used transversing K-wires through the lesser trochanter to achieve an anatomical reduction, and using sliding hip screws. However, in patients with comminuted lesser trochanter or osteoporosis, an intrusion of the wire into the lesser trochanter and/or iatrogenic intertrochanteric fractures were often resulted. Those who were not familiar with a technique of puncturing two holes through the lesser trochanter might have had to face some difficulties. In order to overcome aforementioned drawbacks, the authors had quite satisfactory results by employing the method of passing each of two wires above and below the iliopsoas muscle, and they were twisted posteriorly and then anteriorly; and finally they were pulled together posteriorly. Through this technique, both firm fixation of the lesser trochanter and more stable bony union were obtained.

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