SIX YEARS AGO we encountered paraplegia as a postoperative complication in a patient who had undergone thoraco-lumbar sympathectomy for hypertension. Such a phenomenon was unique in our experience.
After a search of the literature and a number of informal inquiries among our colleagues, we were surprised to find that such an occurrence is not as unusual as we had believed. Bassett, in 1948,1 reporting on his experience with sympathectomy in the treatment of hypertension, stated: 'We
have had four cases of thrombosis of the anterior spinal artery with resultant permanent residual ischemic myelitis.
Poppen, in a personal communication, has stated that, although this complication has not
occurred in his own experienoe, three cases have been brought to his attention in which
paraplegia followed thoraco-lumbar sympathectomy for hypertension. Therefore, we have knowledge of eight cases in which such a catastrophe followed an elective operation which has enjoyed wide usageduring the past decade.
Annals of Surgery, M a r c h, 1 9 5 4