The management of suspected Cauda Equina Cases in A&E after referral from a telephone triage physiotherapy service

Abstract

Purpose: The British Association of Spine Surgeons produced guidelines (BASS, 2015) relating the management of patients with suspected Cauda Equina Syndrome (CES). The guideline states: “A patient presenting with acute (de novo or as an exacerbation of pre-existing symptoms) back pain and/or leg pain with a suggestion of a disturbance of their bladder or bowel function and/or saddle sensory disturbance should be suspected of having a CES. Most of these patients will not have critical compression of the cauda equina. However, in the absence of reliably predictive symptoms and signs, there should be a low threshold for investigation with an emergency scan.”