Caudia Equina

[uuudianauuu]

History;
My 17 year old son was involved in motorcycle accident June 16th .
The night of accident he was givin full body cat, and various x-rays.  
My son complained of numbness in buttocks continually...doctor dismissed as bruise. Also he had loss of feeling in bladder area, inability to start.  Charge nurse ran ultra sound on bladder result 425. Later right two end toes felt weird, numb, loss of sensation. Within a couple of hours my son was able to urinate.
4th day, doctor is ready to discharge son. Later when just about checked out, son complains, severe dizziness nausea. Doctor decides to keep one more day and orders the mri. of Thoracic.
After receiving results doctor consults with neuro surgeon. Doctor comes back and tells me my son has compression of 5 6 7 8 and spinal cord contusion. He tells me son can go home and he is to see neuro surgeon in two weeks time.
Symptoms:
My sons symptoms are numbness in buttock primarly right side, sharp shooting pains radiating down legs, loss of sensation in right two toes, lower back pain as well as thoracic. Bladder function ,my son is not being honest, he says its normal. But I have been paying attention to when he goes...approx. once per day. Also this morning he barely urinated, out anything.

I saw Neuro-surgeon on July 5, as he was booked......
Nuero says symptoms are consistent with lumbar nerve impingement. He ordered mri of lumbar, ct of sacrum, ct of thoracic

Here is question; Has anyone experienced Cauda Equina? I know this is where results will lead...wondering if symptoms can worsen over night....

[NaniKai]

I do not understand why they aren't paying attention to the fact that your son is having trouble urinating. He's got to be horribly uncomfortable with a distended belly! That pain is a pain like no other, I know after having had a surgery with a spinal block. By 10 pm postoperatively that night I was in such misery that they had to catheterize me, I filled up two and a half measuring cups that they measure output with and filled the bag up half way again!
I think that they dismissed him too soon from the hospital with the injuries that you've listed but I'm not a doctor. The injuries seem rather serious and something that should've been watched more closely than they were. Again, my non expert, non physician opinion.

[BobbHilton]

[uuudianauuu]

My son is terrified of being catherized....he wanted out of hospital, every day he begged me to get him out.
He is very vague about urinary symptoms... I have to run to bathroom and listen outside of door to hear how much he is going. I'm about ready to take him back to doc. for ultra sound of bladder.
Hospital doc was a general surgeon not specialized in spine.
I am waiting for insurance authorization on test. It is so frustrating when no doctor listens to what symptoms are. Cauda Equina is not a common injury, most docs miss this. They tend to concentrate on obvious injuries. I took him to er one week after injury for hematoma on buttock (fluid filled sack), I told receptionist all of his symptoms....she told me, he had to many symptoms and I would just have to concentrate on one or two. I went ahead and told er doc. all symptoms...she ordered chest x-ray...he now had pnuemonia (pneumonia). Numbness and sharp pains down legs etc. were dismissed. At time I was more worried about hematoma, and not aware of Cauda Equina. During these three weeks I have gone to family doc twice...he also dismissed symptoms.
The only doc that has listened is neuro-surgeon. But I am still left in this waiting game. I am so angry at docs! Cauda Equina symptoms
should have been addressed, in hospital. He had an obvious injury to tail bone...completely scraped and swollen, bruising on buttock etc. No mri of Lumbar...only x-ray of pelvis which had to much gas to see sarum.
I am still wondering if someone has experienced Cauda Equina. I have read all about it. I guess the no hurry atitude is due to fact its been so long nerve damage is done.
Can he get worse? Worried....

[NaniKai]

The one thing that I read about it lastnight said that it's an urgent injury. If it's not taken care of then permanent damage can arise from it. This being tha tthey would have to catheterize to relieve the bladder. Then to check oneself of any bowel movements, those two feelings/sensations are lost because of the nerve root damage. I don't know what to tell you because I am not a doctor and do not pretend to have any medical knowledge as such. I read your post and read about the cauda equina through a search on google. I noticed three key things, urgent attention is needed because of permanent damage. You stated that it's been overlooked on your son, I noticed that it's something that is overlooked by physicians too. Your on the right path by going to see the neurosurgeon, ask him to order the MRI, it's clear that your son's spine needs checking, I certainly would be asking if he were my son. Doesn't your insurance allow for emergency procedures to be performed and pay retroactively? This is something that needs to be checked out now, not later.

I wish you all the best of luck...plead with your son to be honest and forthcoming about the urination, it's in his own best interest/healthwise. You are his mother and he shouldn't be hiding something like this from you now, not after the serious injuries that he's sustained from the accident.

NaniKai