[Paraplegia, a catastrophic complication of interventions on the infrarenal aorta]

Damage to the spinal cord in course of the treatment of diseases of the infrarenal aorta is a rare but calamitous complication. The reported incidence is about 0.2%. The neurological loss is usually complete flaccid paraplegia with high mortality and rare full or partial recovery. Between 1980 and 1991, 1070 reconstructive procedures of the infrarenal aorta were performed: 821 due to aneurysm (316 elective procedures [mortality 1.6%] and 505 emergency procedures [mortality 24.5%]) and 249 due to aorto-iliac occlusive disease. Damage to the spinal cord occurred in 2 patients (2/1070, 0.19%). One patient had incomplete paraparesis following repair of an unruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm with gradual return of all neurological symptoms to normal. The second patient developed complete paraplegia following repair of a ruptured infrarenal aneurysm. There war no recovery of the symptoms. The patient died from septicaemia 4 months later.