A Rare Cause of Acute Urinary Retention and Faecal Incontinence in Women: Sacral Herpes Zoster

Shingles (herpes zoster) is a well-known disease presented with a cutaneous rash of fluid-filled blisters, similar to chickenpox. Rarely, inflammatory reaction could involve the spinal cord and anterior horn cells causing varied neurological disorders including urological alterations. We report a 57-year-old woman presenting with acute urinary retention and faecal incontinence attributable to unilateral sacral herpes zoster reactivation (S2-4). The patient was treated with valacyclovir. She recovered her urinary and bowel functions without complications 6 weeks later. (Hong Kong j.emerg.med. 2014;21:326-328)