Conservative treatment of a patient with syringomyelia using chiropractic biophysics protocols.

OBJECTIVE

To present a case of a 41-year-old man with syringomyelia and intractable pain and the subsequent reduction of symptoms.

CLINICAL FEATURES

This patient acquired a traumatically induced syrinx in his upper cervical spinal cord after he fell approximately 9 feet and landed on his head, upper back, and neck 9 years before presenting for care. He was diagnosed with a spinal cord cyst (syrinx), located at approximately C2 through C4 after magnetic resonance imaging. In 1995, the patient underwent occipitoatlantal decompression surgery, which improved his symptoms for a short time.

INTERVENTION AND OUTCOMES

The patient was treated using Clinical Biomechanics of Posture protocol. The patient was seen 26 times over the course of 3 weeks. His scale for pain severity decreased 50% and other subjective complaints decreased. His posture improved based upon pretreatment and posttreatment lateral cervical radiographs, showing a change from a 10 degrees lordosis with midcervical kyphosis to a 30 degrees lordosis. One-year follow-up examination showed stable improvement in the cervical lordosis and pain intensity.

CONCLUSION

This case represents a change in subjective and objective measurements after conservative chiropractic care. This case provides an example that structural rehabilitation may have a positive effect on symptoms of a patient with syringomyelia.