Abstract
Pan S-L, Wang Y-H, Lin H-L, Chang C-W, Wu T-Y, Hsieh E-T. Intracerebral hemorrhage
secondary to autonomic dysreflexia in a young person with incomplete C8 tetraplegia:
a case report.
Intracerebral hemorrhage is an unusual complication of autonomic dysreflexia and can
be fatal if massive bleeding occurs with brain herniation. We report the case of a
man in his midthirties with incomplete tetraplegia who suffered right putaminal hemorrhage
during an episode of autonomic dysreflexia. Prompt recognition and removal of the
triggering factors of autonomic dysreflexia quickly brought his blood pressure under
control and the patient had a favorable functional outcome after rehabilitation. A
review of the literature suggests that the location of hemorrhage in autonomic dysreflexia-induced
cases is similar to that in the general population. The most common triggering factors
are bladder distension in men and labor induction in women. Hemorrhagic stroke can
also occur in patients with incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI) who develop autonomic
dysreflexia. The role of sympathetic skin response examination is also discussed.
This life-threatening complication should be kept in mind in the case of people with
SCI.
Key words
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Article info
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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 authors(s) or upon any organization with which the author(s) is/are associated.
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© 2005 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
