Postoperative Brown-Séquard syndrome: case report and review of the literature

Brown-Séquard syndrome (BSS) is a rare neurological condition caused by a hemi-lesion of the spinal cord and was first described in the 1800s. BSS is characterized by an ipsilateral absence of motor control and discriminatory/proprioceptive/vibratory sensation at and below the spinal level involved, associated with loss of contralateral temperature and pain sensation a couple of vertebral segments below the lesion. BSS is commonly associated with trauma, but can also be iatrogenic. The authors report a case of a patient who presented with neoplastic dorsal spinal cord compression and developed a BSS after surgical decompression and review of the literature of postoperative BSS cases.