My mother died last night from a severe abscess on her spine (in two spots one on the spine itself, the other in the muscle surrounding it) that the hospital/ICU doctors suspect came from the treatment of her RA with epidural shots. She was in ICU for three weeks.
She had 3 shots in two months, the last being 5 days before she was admitted to hospital with severe pain in legs, hips, spine.
The doctors in ICU first tried to treat it with antibiotics, then a drain. She was to have surgery to remove the abscess, but since she was admitted, her health detiorated so much from the infection (heart attck, seizures, kidney failure) that surgery was too risky.
My questions are how common are epidural inection infections, what is the proper procedure for each injection and if it is possible to actually find the cause of the infection. I want to make sure this doctor will not do to anyone esle's mother if what he did DID atttribute to her getting this infection.
Basically I'm starting at point one.