Editor-in-Chief: Alaa Abd-Elsayed, MD, PhD
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BACKGROUND: We present a case demonstrating the utility of spinal cord stimulation (SCS) in the treatment of neuropathically mediated pain due to cervical spinal cord syringomyelia formation after inadvertent spinal cord injection during interlaminar cervical epidural steroid injection (ICESI). A review of the current literature on the use of cervical SCS for neuropathic pain that is nonradicular is summarized.
CASE REPORT: A 52-year-old woman had a series of ICESIs for cervicalgia complicated by an intraparenchymal injection that resulted in syrinx formation. She subsequently developed severe, permanent right upper extremity spasticity and chronic neuropathic pain. After failure of various conservative, interventional, and surgical treatments, an SCS trial was performed.
CONCLUSIONS: SCS may be a viable option for the treatment of neuropathic pain secondary to syringomyelia due to iatrogenic parenchymal injury.
KEY WORDS: Neuropathic pain, spinal cord stimulation, syringomyelia following trauma, syrinx
