Korean J Pain.  2006 Dec;19(2):241-243. 10.3344/kjp.2006.19.2.241.

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

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Sanggye Paik Hospital, college of Medicine, Inje University, Seoul, Korea. zxcv456@hanmail.net
  • 2Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Dental Hospital, School of Dentistry, Dankook University, Cheonan, Korea.

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.

Keyword

brachial plexus block; central pain; syringomyelia

MeSH Terms

Arm
Arnold-Chiari Malformation
Brachial Plexus*
Burns
Central Nervous System
Chronic Pain
Decompression
Foramen Magnum
Hyperalgesia
Oral Medicine
Shoulder Pain
Syringomyelia
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