A 49-year-old man received prolotherapy in the upper cervical region at a local medical clinic. Immediately after the procedure, he felt a sensation resembling an electric shock in his right upper and lower extremities, and continuously complained of numbness and discomfort in the right hemibody. He visited our clinic a week later. Upon physical examination, there were no significant abnormal findings. The visual analog scale was 60 points. T2-weight magnetic resonance images of the cervical spine showed a 0.7 cm sized bright oval spot on the right side of the spinal cord at the level of C4-C5 disc, suggesting spinal cord injury. There were no definite electrodiagnostic abnormalities. Digital infrared thermal images showed moderately decreased surface temperature on lateral aspect of the right forearm and dorsum of the right hand compared with the other side. Considering that very rare complications like spinal cord injury may develop after prolotherapy, we suggest that special interventions such as prolotherapy be performed by professional experts.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
Stem Cell‐Based Therapies and Tissue Engineering Innovations for Tendinopathy: A Comprehensive Review of Current Strategies and Future Directions George Augustin, Ji Hoon Jeong, Min‐Kyu Kim, Sung Sik Hur, Joon Ho Lee, Yongsung Hwang Advanced Therapeutics.2024;[Epub] CrossRef
Dextrose Prolotherapy Kenneth Dean Reeves, Regina W.S. Sit, David P. Rabago Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinics of North America.2016; 27(4): 783. CrossRef
Injections for Chronic Pain Virtaj Singh, Andrea Trescot, Isuta Nishio Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinics of North America.2015; 26(2): 249. CrossRef