Transient paraplegia after neurolytic splanchnic block in a patient with metastatic colon carcinoma

We present a patient with metastatic colon carcinoma who developed paraplegia following a neurolytic splanchnic block. A 41-year old man with metastatic adenocarcinoma of the colon received a splanchnic neurolytic block using alcohol because of severe abdominal pain. Bilateral motor weakness and a s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Korean journal of pain 2018-01, Vol.31 (1), p.50-53
Main Authors: Oguz, Gonca, Senel, Gulcin, Kocak, Nesteren
Format: Article
Language:Korean
Subjects:
Alcohol
Cancer
Complication
Pain
Paraplegia
Splanchnic block
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Summary:We present a patient with metastatic colon carcinoma who developed paraplegia following a neurolytic splanchnic block. A 41-year old man with metastatic adenocarcinoma of the colon received a splanchnic neurolytic block using alcohol because of severe abdominal pain. Bilateral motor weakness and a sensorial deficit in both legs developed after the procedure. Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging revealed spinal cord ischemia between T8 and L1. The motor and sensorial deficits were almost completely resolved at the end of the third month. We think that anterior spinal artery syndrome due to reversible spasms of the lumbar radicular arteries using alcohol have resulted in transient paraplegia. The retrograde spread of alcohol to neural structures may have also contributed. (Korean J Pain 2018; 31: 50-3)
ISSN:2005-9159
2093-0569