Open AccessGuillain-Barr?? Syndrome in a Patient with Pancreatic Cancer After an Epidural-General Anesthetic
Author(s) -
Philip D. Bamberger,
Daniel M. Thys
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
anesthesia and analgesia/anesthesia and analgesia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.404
H-Index - 201
eISSN - 1526-7598
pISSN - 0003-2999
DOI - 10.1213/01.ane.0000144826.77316.ed
Subject(s) - medicine , complication , surgery , guillain barre syndrome , paralysis , anesthesia , brachial plexus , electromyography , pancreatitis , magnetic resonance imaging , radiology , pediatrics , psychiatry
Guillain-Barre syndrome is a rare occurrence in medicine and is probably rarer still as a postoperative complication. We report an uneventful operative course, during epidural-general anesthesia, in a patient undergoing pancreatectomy who presented with acute paralysis mimicking an acute cervical spinal cord syndrome or brachial plexus neuropathy. The signs and symptoms of right upper extremity paralysis occurred within 2 h postoperatively. Immediate work-up, which included magnetic resonance imaging, electromyography, and nerve conduction velocity studies, provided the diagnosis.