To explore the etiology, clinical manifestations, diagnoses, treatments and prognoses of spontaneous spinal epidural and subdural hematomas.

Medical records of 10 patients with spontaneous spinal epidural hemorrhage and 4 patients with subdural hemorrhage, collected in our hospital from September 2013 to January 2016, were analyzed retrospectively. Evacuation of the hematoma was carried out in 12 patients and the other two patients were treated conservatively. The functions of spinal cords were assessed by American Spinal Injury Association impairment scale (ASIA) before and after the treatment.

Spontaneous spinal epidural and subdural hematomas appeared mostly in young patients with sudden onset. Spinal epidural hematomas were much more common than subdural ones. The pathological examination showed that one suffered from arteriovenous malformation, one suffered from perimedually artriovenous fistula, and 12 had intracranial hematomas which were resulted from undefined causes. The ASIA before the operation was as follows: 5 were in grade A, 2 in grade B, 4 in grade C and 3 in grade D. The ASIA after the operation was as follows: 4 were in grade A, one in grade C, 3 in grade D and 4 in grade E. The two patients received conservative treatments achieved total recovery of the neurological functions (grade E).

It should be stressed that early diagnosis and prompt surgical intervention are of great importance for prompt of spontaneous spinal epidural. The better the preoperative neurological status, the better the neurological outcome after the surgical operation.

Hematoma, epidural; Hematoma, subdural; Hematorrhachis