• Gun Woo Lee, Wook-Tae Park, and Min Cheol Chang.
• Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Yeungnam University Medical Center, Yeungnam University College of Medicine, Daegu, Republic of Korea.
• Medicine (Baltimore). 2023 May 12; 102 (19): e33734e33734.

RationaleIschemic monomelic neuropathy (IMN) is a disease that occurs after acute arterial occlusion or steal phenomenon in an extremity that results in single or multiple axonal mononeuropathies in the distal limb without the classical features of limb ischemia, including a skin color change, limb swelling, and ischemic claudication. IMN can easily be misdiagnosed as any other neuropathic disorder. Here we present a case of IMN that was misdiagnosed as spinal epidural hematoma.Patient ConcernsA 77-year-old man presented with sudden motor weakness and pain in his left foot and calf 5 days after a bilateral L4 to 5 posterior decompression for lumbar spinal stenosis. His symptoms progressed over the next 5 days. The strengths of the left ankle dorsiflexors, first toe extensors, and ankle plantar flexors were Medical Research Council 0. On brain and whole-spine magnetic resonance imaging, no specific abnormalities correlated with his symptoms were observed. Computed tomography angiography of the lower extremities revealed segmental occlusion of the left common femoral artery and multifocal severe stenoses in the bilateral anterior and posterior tibial arteries of the left leg. No skin color change or swelling was observed in the left lower extremity.DiagnosisBased on his clinical features and imaging findings, he was diagnosed with IMN.InterventionThe patient underwent thrombectomy of the left femoral artery.OutcomesAfter the treatment, his pain almost completely disappeared.LessonsWhen patients exhibit acute-onset pain in the unilateral limb with or without motor weakness but no correlated abnormality on spinal magnetic resonance imaging or computed tomography, clinicians should consider the possibility of IMN.Copyright © 2023 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.

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