Epidural hematoma after spinal anesthesia in a patient with undiagnosed epidural lymphoma.
The incidence of hemorrhagic complications after neuroaxial anesthesia is very infrequent. We report a case of a woman developing epidural bleeding 3 wk after performing an uneventful spinal anesthesia at the lumbar level L3-4 for removal of a wire loop in her left knee. No hemostasis altering medication had been taken before and after spinal puncture. The hematoma presenting at the lumbar level L2-3 had to be removed via laminectomy. Pathological examination of the hematoma revealed a highly vascularized centroblastic non-Hodgkin's lymphoma that was not diagnosed before surgery. The patient did not develop any neurological deficits.


CONCLUSIONS
We report a case of a women developing epidural bleeding 3 wk after performing an uneventful spinal anesthesia for removal of a wire loop in her left knee. Pathological examination of the neurosurgically removed hematoma revealed a highly vascularized epidural centroblastic non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Gottschalk
André
A
Departments of *Anesthesiology and †Neurosurgery, University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany.
Bischoff
Petra
P
Lamszus
Katrin
K
Standl
Thomas
T
D000775:Anesthesia, Spinal / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016118:Anterior Cruciate Ligament / Q000601:surgery; D015174:Epidural Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006407:Hematoma, Epidural, Cranial / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D007796:Laminectomy; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged