Ojeda Niño Antonio, Manterola Lasa Oihane, Gracia Fabre Cesar, Nebreda-Clavo Carlos L, Ferreira-Dos-Santos Guilherme, Armand-Ugon Rosario
Department of Anesthesiology, Reanimation, and Pain Medicine, Hospital Clinic de Barcelona, Spain.
Department of Anesthesiology, Reanimation, and Pain Medicine, Sant Joan Despi Hospital, Spain.
Interv Pain Med. 2024 Apr 16;3(2):100409. doi: 10.1016/j.inpm.2024.100409. eCollection 2024 Jun.
Cervical medial branch radiofrequency ablation is an effective treatment for cervical facet joint pain. It is considered a safe procedure, and permanent complications are very rare. We report a case of a patient who developed dropped-head syndrome (DHS) after bilateral treatment.
An 86-year-old man was referred to our pain clinic because of neck pain. One year before, he underwent bilateral multi-level cervical medial branch radiofrequency ablation. Within the next 24 hours, he experienced progressive neck extensor muscle weakness. After a comprehensive examination, he was diagnosed with dropped head syndrome as a complication of the radiofrequency procedure. Conservative management was chosen, resulting in partial improvement of the muscular weakness.
The present case, along with others reviewed in this article, supports the recommendation against performing bilateral and multilevel cervical medial branch radiofrequency ablation.
颈椎内侧支射频消融术是治疗颈椎小关节疼痛的有效方法。该手术被认为是安全的,永久性并发症非常罕见。我们报告一例患者在双侧治疗后出现低头综合征(DHS)的病例。
一名86岁男性因颈部疼痛被转诊至我们的疼痛诊所。一年前,他接受了双侧多节段颈椎内侧支射频消融术。在接下来的24小时内,他出现了进行性颈部伸肌肌无力。经过全面检查,他被诊断为低头综合征,是射频手术的并发症。选择了保守治疗,肌肉无力症状得到部分改善。
本病例以及本文中回顾的其他病例支持反对进行双侧和多节段颈椎内侧支射频消融术的建议。