The Korean Journal of Pain  2006;19(2):241-243

doi:10.3344/kjp.2006.19.2.241

Improvement of Spinal Central Pain by Brachial Plexus Block: A case report.

Ok Sun KIM 1 ; Woo Yong LEE ; Byung Hoon YOO ; Yun Hee LIM ; Seung Oh KIM

Affiliations

+expand

Keywords

brachial plexus block; central pain; syringomyelia

Country

Republic of Korea

Language

Korean

Abstract

Central pain is defined as pain associated with lesions of the central nervous system, and is among the most intractable of chronic pain syndromes. A 47 year-old-female, who had right arm and shoulder pain, was diagnosed with syringomyelia of the Arnold Chiari malformation type I and received foramen magnum decompression and a syringo-subarachnoid shunt. After the operation, the evoked pain was improved, but she complained of a continuous burning pain, coupled with cold and tactile allodynia. This symptom failed to fully subside on administration of oral medicine; therefore, brachial plexus block was performed, which relieved her pain transiently. Through repeated trials, a gradual decrease in the pain intensity and frequency was found. However, the way in which brachial plexus block improves spinal central pain is not completely known.