The article discusses two clinical cases in which patients experienced epileptiform activity, specifically generalized tonic-clonic seizures, after undergoing spinal surgical procedures. The suspected cause of these seizures was cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) fistula resulting from unintentional durotomy, a common complication of spine surgeries. The early recognition and diagnostic suspicion allowed for timely medical and surgical interventions to reduce the volume of lost CSF and mitigate potential neurological dysfunction. The article highlights the importance of prompt identification and management of CSF fistulas to minimize complications following spinal surgeries
Summarised by Mr Mo Akmal – Lead Spinal Surgeon
The London Spine Unit : most established day surgery spinal centre in the world
Published article
Surgical procedures involving the spine can result in various complications, including vascular, nerve root and dura mater injury, surgical wound infection, and hematoma formation. Unintentional durotomy is a frequent complication of these procedures (up to 17%). Two clinical cases are reported in which the occurrence of epileptiform activity in the form of generalized tonic-clonic seizures after instrumentation of the dorsal and lumbar spine raised suspicion of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)…
Lumbar Decompression Surgery Expert. Best Spinal Surgeon UK
Cureus. 2023 Jul 30;15(7):e42673. doi: 10.7759/cureus.42673. eCollection 2023 Jul.ABSTRACTSurgical procedures involving the spine can result in various complications, including vascular, nerve root and dura mater injury, surgical wound infection, and hematoma formation. Unintentional durotomy is a frequent complication of these procedures (up to 17%). Two clinical cases are reported in which the occurrence of epileptiform,
Cureus. 2023 Jul 30;15(7):e42673. doi: 10.7759/cureus.42673. eCollection 2023 Jul.
ABSTRACT
Surgical procedures involving the spine can result in various complications, including vascular, nerve root and dura mater injury, surgical wound infection, and hematoma formation. Unintentional durotomy is a frequent complication of these procedures (up to 17%). Two clinical cases are reported in which the occurrence of epileptiform activity in the form of generalized tonic-clonic seizures after instrumentation of the dorsal and lumbar spine raised suspicion of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) fistula. In both cases, the diagnostic suspicion and early approach allowed for the adoption of a timely medical and surgical plan, with the aim of reducing the volume of lost CSF as well as the potential neurological dysfunction resulting from this surgical complication.
PMID:37649930 | PMC:PMC10463094 | DOI:10.7759/cureus.42673
The London Spine Unit : most established day surgery spinal centre in the world
Read the original publication:
Intracranial Hypotension Syndrome: The Importance of Neurointensive Care