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Clinical features

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

Characteristically, there is

  • urinary and faecal incontinence
  • sensory numbness of the buttocks and the backs of the thighs
  • lower motor neurone weakness, the precise features of which depend upon the level at which the cauda equina is compressed. Commonly, the foot becomes flail with loss of dorsiflexion of the foot (L4) and toes (L4,5), and of eversion and plantarflexion (S1). The ankle jerks are usually absent on both sides.

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