Abstract
Nadler SF, Andrus SG, Malanga GA, Stitik TP. Misinterpretation of regional sensory
loss in an injured worker: a case report. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2002;83:1171-2. Regional
patterns of motor or sensory loss are considered indicators of a behavioral component
to the complaints of an injured worker. This assumption may lead to a discounting
of signs and symptoms with premature return to work and discharge from care. We present
the case of a 25-year-old airline baggage handler with an 8-month history of unresolved
neck and shoulder complaints who had been returned to work after a lack of objective
findings on physical examination. On physiatric evaluation, his unusual pattern of
insensitivity to pinprick led to prompt magnetic resonance imaging that revealed a
focus of increased intramedullary signal at C6 consistent with a syrinx. This case
report shows the importance of a detailed neuromuscular examination coupled with appropriate
diagnostic imaging in the assessment of individuals with regional sensory or motor
loss so as not to miss more serious spinal cord pathology. © 2002 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy
of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
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Article info
Footnotes
☆Reprint requests to Scott F. Nadler, DO, Dept of PM&R, UMDNJ–NJ Medical Schl, 90 Bergen St, Ste 3100, Newark, NJ 07103, e-mail: [email protected]
☆☆No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit upon the author(s) or upon any organization with which the author(s) is/are associated.
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Copyright
© 2002 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
