Anesth Analg 2005;100:1197-1199
© 2005 International Anesthesia Research Society
doi: 10.1213/01.ANE.0000144826.77316.ED
REGIONAL ANESTHESIA
Guillain-Barré Syndrome in a Patient with Pancreatic Cancer After an Epidural-General Anesthetic
Philip D. Bamberger, MD, and
Daniel M. Thys, MD
Department of Clinical Anesthesiology, Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center, New York, New York
Address correspondence and reprint requests to Daniel M. Thys, MD, Professor of Anesthesiology, Columbia University, College of Physician and Surgeons, Chairman, Department of Anesthesiology, St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center, New York, NY 10019. Address e-mail to pdb9{at}columbia.edu or philb99{at}optonline.net
Guillain-Barré 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.
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