Psoas abscess mimicking a septic hip. Diagnosis by computed tomography

Primary suppurative psoas abscess is a rare lesion, and lack of familiarity with it remains the major stumbling block to diagnosis. The symptoms often involve the hip rather than the abdomen or the spine, and diagnosis may present difficulties for that reason. We are reporting a case of a suppurative non-tuberculous psoas abscess that presented as a septic hip in a child. When this diagnosis was ruled out after aspiration of the hip, an accurate preoperative diagnosis was made with a computed tomographic scan.