Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis diagnosed after lumbar epidural block for treating low back pain: Two cases report

No, Min Young; Kim, Byoung Ho; Han, Sang Joo; Lee, Yun Gu; Woo, Nam Sik; Kim, Jae Hun

doi:2015.10.2.89

Anesth Pain Med > Volume 10(2); 2015 > Article

Case Report

Spinal Pain

Anesthesia and Pain Medicine 2015;10(2):89-92.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17085/apm.2015.10.2.89 Published online April 30, 2015.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis diagnosed after lumbar epidural block for treating low back pain: Two cases report

Min Young No, Byoung Ho Kim, Sang Joo Han, Yun Gu Lee, Nam Sik Woo, Jae Hun Kim

Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Konkuk University Medical Center, Konkuk University Shool of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. painfree@kuh.ac.kr

Received: 9 December 2014 • Revised: 30 December 2014 • Accepted: 6 January 2015

Abstract

Lumbar epidural block is one of effective methods for treating low back pain with or without radiculopathy. However, neurologic complications can occur after epidural block due to several causes such as direct nerve injury or epidural hematoma. It is important to determine whether the neurologic complication is related to the procedure or is due to the underlying neurologic disease. We report two cases of patients who complained of weakness in their lower extremities after receiving a lumbar epidural block; they were ultimately diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Key Words: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Epidural block, Low back pain, Neurologic complication, Radiculopathy