• Tae Hyun Kim, Jun Jae Shin, and Woo Yong Lee.
• Department of Neurosurgery, Sanggye Paik Hospital, Inje University College of Medicine, Dongil-ro 1342, Nowon-gu, Seoul, 01757, Korea.
• J Med Case Rep. 2016 Oct 6; 10 (1): 277.

BackgroundPercutaneous epidural neuroplasty with a Racz catheter is widely used to treat radicular pain caused by spinal stenosis or a herniated intervertebral disc. The breakage or shearing of an epidural catheter, particularly a percutaneous epidural neuroplasty catheter, is reported as a rare complication. There has been a controversy over whether surgical removal of a shorn epidural catheter is needed. Until now, only three cases related to sheared Racz neuroplasty catheters have been reported. We report a case of a neuroplasty catheter which completely broke when it was inserted into the epidural space, and compressed root symptoms were exacerbated by the broken catheter.Case PresentationA 68-year-old Asian man with leg pain and lower back pain caused by lumbar vertebral body 4 to lumbar vertebral body 5 intervertebral disc herniation and stenosis underwent percutaneous epidural neuroplasty. During the procedure, the epidural neuroplasty catheter was trapped in the left foraminal portion and broke. Our patient complained of left-side leg pain and numbness. Surgery performed to remove the broken catheter led to complete resolution of his leg pain and numbness.ConclusionsWe report a rare case of catheter breakage occurring during epidural neuroplasty. We suggest surgical removal because the implanted catheter can aggravate a patient's symptoms and lead to the development of neurologic deficits due to infection, fibrosis, or mechanical neural irritation.

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