-
Journal of anesthesia · Feb 2012
Case ReportsSubclinical neuropathy in diabetic patients: a risk factor for bilateral lower limb neurological deficit following spinal anesthesia?
- Darshan S Angadi and Ajit Garde.
- Department of Trauma and Orthopedics, Northampton General Hospital, 1, Cottesbrooke Corridor, Northampton, NN1 5BD, UK. docdarshan2002@yahoo.com
- J Anesth. 2012 Feb 1;26(1):107-10.
AbstractTotal knee arthroplasty performed under spinal or general anesthesia is a common successful orthopedic procedure. Nonetheless, in patients with diabetes mellitus this procedure can present unique challenges to orthopedic surgeon and anesthesiologist alike. We describe a case of an elderly male diabetic patient who developed bilaterally symmetrical lower limb neurological deficit following an uneventful total knee arthroplasty performed under spinal anesthesia. Postoperative nerve conduction study with electromyography confirmed symmetrical extensive denervation of lower limb muscles, including low-voltage fibrillation potentials and positive sharp waves. These findings were consistent with a preexisting neuropathy, thereby suggesting a subclinical neuropathy as a potential risk factor for this neurological complication. Our case highlights the fact that patients with longstanding comorbidities, namely peripheral vascular disease and diabetes mellitus, may be at an increased risk of neurological injury following regional anesthesia. Hence, we believe that preoperative evaluation of diabetic patients should include neurophysiological studies to identify subclinical neuropathy and minimize the risk of neurological injury.
Notes
Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
- Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as
*italics*
,_underline_
or**bold**
. - Superscript can be denoted by
<sup>text</sup>
and subscript<sub>text</sub>
. - Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines
1. 2. 3.
, hyphens-
or asterisks*
. - Links can be included with:
[my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
- Images can be included with:
![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
- For footnotes use
[^1](This is a footnote.)
inline. - Or use an inline reference
[^1]
to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document[^1]: This is a long footnote.
.