title: Spontaneous spinal subdural haematoma during general anaesthesia.
abstract: Spontaneous spinal subdural haematoma causing acute spinal cord compression is a well recognized condition and often responds well to early surgical intervention. In the elderly, the haematoma usually occurs as a result of minor trauma or atherosclerosis with hypertension. We present in this report the history of a patient who became paraplegic during a general anaesthetic for an operation for removal of a ureteral calculus. Rupture of a spinal vascular malformation was found to be responsible for the subdural haematoma, which remained undiagnosed until surgical exploration.
mesh_terms: D000768:Anesthesia, General; D005260:Female; D006408:Hematoma, Subdural / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010264:Paraplegia / Q000209:etiology; D013117:Spinal Cord Compression / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery