Acute aortic occlusion in a patient with chronic paralysis due to spinal cord injury: a case report

Patients with spinal cord injury experience changes in the cardiovascular system and a high morbidity associated with peripheral artery disease. We report a case of acute aortic occlusion in a patient with chronic paralysis due to spinal cord injury. A 65-year-old man with chronic paralysis due to spinal cord injury developed mottling of the right extremity. Because of the complete tetraplegia, the patient had no subjective symptoms. Computed tomography revealed occlusion of the infrarenal abdominal aorta. An emergency thromboembolectomy established adequate blood flow, and the postoperative course was uneventful. The loss of muscle mass might be an advantage in avoiding ischemia reperfusion syndrome. Early detection of acute aortic occlusion and immediate reperfusion are primarily important, but patients with chronic paralysis present a risk of delay in detection, diagnosis, and treatment of acute aortic occlusion because of motor or sensory deficits. Although rare, it is necessary to consider acute aortic occlusion in the case of acute limb ischemia in patients with chronic paralysis due to spinal cord injury.