Acute Motor Weakness of Opposite Lower Extremity after Percutaneous Epidural Neuroplasty.
10.3344/kjp.2015.28.2.144
- Author:
Yong Seok LIM
1
;
Ki Tea JUNG
;
Cheon Hee PARK
;
Sang Woo WEE
;
Sung Sik SIN
;
Joon KIM
Author Information
1. Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Kwangju Christian Hospital, Gwangju, Korea.
- Publication Type:Case Report
- Keywords:
Epidural;
Herniation;
Monoplegia;
Neuroplasty;
Radicular pain;
Stenosis
- MeSH:
Barotrauma;
Catheters;
Constriction, Pathologic;
Emergencies;
Epidural Space;
Female;
Hemiplegia;
Humans;
Intervertebral Disc;
Leg;
Lower Extremity*;
Sensation;
Spinal Stenosis;
Young Adult
- From:The Korean Journal of Pain
2015;28(2):144-147
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Recently, percutaneous epidural neuroplasty has become widely used to treat radicular pain caused by spinal stenosis or a herniated intervertebral disc. A 19-year-old female patient suffering from left radicular pain caused by an L4-L5 intervertebral disc herniation underwent percutaneous epidural neuroplasty of the left L5 nerve root using a Racz catheter. After the procedure, the patient complained of acute motor weakness in the right lower leg, on the opposite site to where the neuroplasty was conducted. Emergency surgery was performed, and swelling of the right L5 nerve root was discovered. The patient recovered her motor and sensory functions immediately after the surgery. Theoretically, the injection of a large volume of fluid in a patient with severe spinal stenosis during epidural neuroplasty can increase the pressure on the opposite side of the epidural space, which may cause injury of the opposite nerve by barotrauma from a closed compartment. Practitioners should be aware of this potential complication.
