J Korean Orthop Assoc.  2010 Oct;45(5):408-412.

Acute Spinal Cord Injury after Cervical Nerve Root Block

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Orthopedic Surgery, School of Medicine, Wonkwang University, Iksan, Korea. osktg@wonkwang.ac.kr

Abstract

Selective cervical nerve root block is a widely utilized nonsurgical strategy for the management of cervical radicular and axial pain. The technique has been shown to be efficacious in relieving the patient's symptoms. Although effective, there are a range of possible complications associated with this procedure. In particular, acute spinal cord injury after cervical nerve root block is very rare, but it lead to serious functional impairment. The literature on acute spinal cord injury is very small and there have been no reports from Korea. We experienced a case of a patient with an acute injury of the cervical spinal cord after cervical nerve root block who was followed 28 months.

Keyword

cervical radiculopathy; nerve root block; spinal cord injury

MeSH Terms

Humans
Korea
Radiculopathy
Spinal Cord
Spinal Cord Injuries

Figure

  • Figure 1 Initial T2W MR images show degenerative change and burging disc in C5-6.

  • Figure 2 Fluoroscopic image during cervical nerve root block.

  • Figure 3 T2W MR image after 1 week.

  • Figure 4 T2W MR image after 6 months.


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