Spinal subdural haematoma following traumatic lumbar puncture in a patient with normal coagulation profile

ABSTRACT

Spinal subdural haematoma following lumbar puncture is a rare cause of spinal cord compression with very few cases reported in the literature. It is usually associated with some predisposing factors like haemorrhagic diathesis, anticoagulant therapy, vascular malformation, tumour or trauma. The authors report a case of spinal subdural haematoma in a 30-year-old male following a traumatic lumbar puncture with no obvious coagulation disorder. The patient had a poor outcome with minimal improvement in paraparesis at last follow-up, even after timely decompression. Although coagulation abnormalities are commonly found in most of these cases, our case illustrates the fact that spinal subdural haematoma can occur even in the presence of normal coagulation profile and a high index of suspicion with early diagnosis and intervention is warranted to prevent irreversible neurological deterioration, especially following a traumatic lumbar puncture