Sciatica-type pain on one side or both sides, although pain may be wholly absent
Weakness of the muscles of the lower legs (often paraplegia)
Achilles (ankle) reflex absent on both sides. : 216 
Sexual dysfunction
Absent anal reflex and bulbocavernosus reflex
Gait disturbanceSevere back pain, saddle anesthesia, urinary or fecal incontinence and sexual dysfunction are considered "red flags", i.e. features which require urgent investigation. Causes
After the conus medullaris (near lumbar vertebral levels 1 (L1) and 2 (L2), occasionally lower), the spinal canal contains a bundle of nerve fibers (the cauda equina or "horse-tail") that branches off the lower end of the spinal cord and contains the nerve roots from L1–L5 and S1–S5. The nerve roots from L4–S4 join in the sacral plexus which affects the sciatic nerve, which travels caudally (toward the feet). Compression, trauma or other damage to this region of the spinal canal can result in cauda equina syndrome.The symptoms may also appear as a temporary side-effect of a sacral extra-dural injection. Trauma
Direct trauma can also cause cauda equina syndrome. Most common causes include as a complication of lumbar punctures, burst fractures resulting in posterior migration of fragments of the vertebral body, severe disc herniations, spinal anaesthesia involving trauma from catheters and high local anaesthetic concentrations around the cauda equina, penetrating trauma such as knife wounds or ballistic trauma. Spinal stenosis
CES can be caused by lumbar spinal stenosis, which is when the diameter of the spinal canal narrows.
Discitis, or diskitis, is an infection in the intervertebral disc space that affects different age groups. In adults, it can lead to severe consequences, such as sepsis or epidural abscess, but it can also spontaneously resolve, especially in children under 8 years of age. Discitis occurs post-surgically in approximately 1–2 percent of patients after spinal surgery. Signs and symptoms
Symptoms include severe back pain, leading to lack of mobility. Some very young children may refuse to walk and arching of the back is possible. In post-operative situations, the symptoms occur within a week and result in severe low back pain or neck pain (depending on the surgical location). If untreated, the discitis may resolve on its own, causing spontaneous fusion of the intervertebral disc space,  cause a chronic low grade infection, or progress to osteomyelitis and possibly even an epidural abscess. In case of concomitant inflammation of one or more vertebrae (in such cases usually involving the areas adjacent to the intervertebral disc spaces) the condition is called spondylodiscitis. Causes
There is debate as to the cause, although hematogenous seeding of the offending organism is favored as well as direct spread. It is important to differentiate between spontaneous discitis which is usually from hematologic spread from a urinary or respiratory infection versus that from a post-operative complication which usually involves skin flora such as staph aureus. It can be caused due to spinal tuberculosis and spread along spinal ligament to involve  the adjacent anterior vertebral bodies, causing angulation of the vertebrae with subsequent kyphosis.