-transparent.png){kind=logo}
It is very rare for neurosurgeons to encounter cases of spinal cord injury caused by a broken acupuncture needle. A 45-year-old man was referred to our clinic because of urinary retention about two weeks after acupuncture therapy (a needle was broken during treatment). The patient showed no motor weakness, or sensory disturbance. The needle was seen transversely stabbing the spinal cord at C1/2 on CT imaging and X-ray film. In all of the reported seven cases of longitudinal stab injuries (posterior puncture), sensorimotor disturbances were present. In transverse stab injuries (lateral puncture), however, two cases did not show motor weakness but sensory disturbance. The centrifugal pathway for micturition in the spinal cord lies in the middle one third of the lateral columns and in the width of the central canal. The patient complained of urinary retention because the bilateral descending fibers might have been stabbed by the needle. Surgical treatment relieved the patient from his complaint.
H Gi, and
J Takahashi, and
H Kanamoto, and
K Matsubayashi, and
N Mikuni, and
S Okamoto
May 1986,
No shinkei geka. Neurological surgery,
H Gi, and
J Takahashi, and
H Kanamoto, and
K Matsubayashi, and
N Mikuni, and
S Okamoto
April 1992,
No shinkei geka. Neurological surgery,
H Gi, and
J Takahashi, and
H Kanamoto, and
K Matsubayashi, and
N Mikuni, and
S Okamoto
September 1990,
Yonsei medical journal,
H Gi, and
J Takahashi, and
H Kanamoto, and
K Matsubayashi, and
N Mikuni, and
S Okamoto
July 2008,
Turkish neurosurgery,
H Gi, and
J Takahashi, and
H Kanamoto, and
K Matsubayashi, and
N Mikuni, and
S Okamoto
February 1979,
Surgical neurology,
H Gi, and
J Takahashi, and
H Kanamoto, and
K Matsubayashi, and
N Mikuni, and
S Okamoto
November 1990,
Neurologia medico-chirurgica,
H Gi, and
J Takahashi, and
H Kanamoto, and
K Matsubayashi, and
N Mikuni, and
S Okamoto
January 2023,
Explore (New York, N.Y.),
H Gi, and
J Takahashi, and
H Kanamoto, and
K Matsubayashi, and
N Mikuni, and
S Okamoto
January 1990,
Der Unfallchirurg,
H Gi, and
J Takahashi, and
H Kanamoto, and
K Matsubayashi, and
N Mikuni, and
S Okamoto
August 1989,
Neurologia medico-chirurgica,
H Gi, and
J Takahashi, and
H Kanamoto, and
K Matsubayashi, and
N Mikuni, and
S Okamoto
March 1999,
Der Unfallchirurg,
