Cortical blindness following spinal surgery: very rare cause of perioperative vision loss
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Updated: May 15, 2026

Minimally Invasive Surgical Decompression of Occipital Nerves
Published on: September 13, 2024
Vijay Goni1, Sujit Kumar Tripathy, Tarun Goyal
1Department of Orthopaedics, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
Abstract:
A 38-year-old man was operated with posterior spinal decompression and pedicle screw instrumentation for his L2 fracture with incomplete neurological deficit. In the recovery, he complained of blindness in both eyes after twelve hours. Computed tomographic scan and magnetic resonance angiography revealed bilateral occipital lobe infarcts. He remained permanently blind even after three years follow-up. Though rare, perioperative vision loss is a potential complication following spine surgery in prone position. We report a rare occurrence of cortical blindness following lumbar spine surgery.
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