Spontaneous cerebellar haemorrhage following lumbar fusion.
Spontaneous cerebellar haemorrhage following spinal surgery is rare, with fewer than 20 patients reported in the literature. We present a 70-year-old woman who underwent a L5-S1 posterior lumbar interbody fusion for spondylolisthesis. Intraoperatively, an incidental durotomy occurred and was repaired uneventfully. A large amount of serosanguinous fluid was noted in the subfascial drain post-operatively. The patient became increasingly drowsy 36 hours later. She was subsequently found to have bilateral cerebellar haemorrhages with associated non-communicating hydrocephalus.
Khong
Peter
P
Department of Neurosurgery, Wollongong Hospital, Loftus Street, Wollongong, New South Wales 2500, Australia. petekhong@yahoo.com
Jerry Day
M
M
D000368:Aged; D002543:Cerebral Hemorrhage / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D013123:Spinal Fusion / Q000009:adverse effects*; D013168:Spondylolisthesis / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods