Cervical Spinal Cord Injury Due to Direct Needle Damage During Acupuncture

Causes of cervical spinal cord injury (c-SCI) as a result of direct needle penetration in acupuncture include migration of broken needles or needles, and deep needle insertion. Two cases of c-SCI due to insertion of acupuncture needles were encountered and managed by author. Here, I report the clinical course of these patients. A 35-year-old woman presented at our hospital with paresthesia and weakness of her left upper extremity. Two hours prior to this visit, she received acupuncture treatment around the neck as treatment for neck pain. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a high intensity lesion in cervical spinal cord. She managed pain with medication and physical treatment. Two years later, she showed significant improvement in her left-hand weakness and persistent paresthesia. A 48-year-old woman visited for left arm pain and weakness. She underwent acupuncture treatment two hours before visiting our hospital. MRI demonstrated a mixed intensity lesion in cervical spinal cord. Two months later, she showed marked improvement in left arm weakness. However, she demonstrated no improvement of her painful paresthesia. Physicians should always consider c-SCI as differential diagnosis of upper extremity weakness and paresthesia, especially if the patient has a history of acupuncture around the neck or back.