Is intramuscular stimulation a safe procedure in unpracticed hands?: a case of cervical epidural hematoma resulting in hemiparesis: A case report

Cho, Choon Kyu; Kim, Hyun Woo; Ahn, Se Whan; Kwon, Hee Uk; Kang, Po Soon

Case Report

General Article

Anesthesia and Pain Medicine 2010;5(2):118-120.
Published online April 30, 2010.

Is intramuscular stimulation a safe procedure in unpracticed hands?: a case of cervical epidural hematoma resulting in hemiparesis: A case report

Choon Kyu Cho, Hyun Woo Kim, Se Whan Ahn, Hee Uk Kwon, Po Soon Kang

¹Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Konyang University College of Medicine, Daejeon, Korea.
²Department of Neurosurgery, Konyang University College of Medicine, Daejeon, Korea. naturalspine@gmail.com

Abstract

Intramuscular Stimulation (IMS) is a refined technique of traditional oriental acupuncture, and IMS has proved effective for relieving chronic pain of a neuropathic origin. IMS is currently seen to be quite a safe procedure with minimal complications having been reported to date. Various complications have been documented for acupuncture, but few complications or adverse effects have been reported in relation to the relatively new technique of IMS. We report here on a case of cervical spinal epidural hematoma that manifested as a cause of delayed hemiparesis. The safety of this procedure in unpracticed hands seems to be questionable.

Key Words: Complication, IMS, Spinal epidural hematoma