Hu Dong, Xu Kai, Xiao Songhua
Department of Orthopedic, Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
Case Rep Orthop. 2022 May 30;2022:8338131. doi: 10.1155/2022/8338131. eCollection 2022.
Degenerated intervertebral discs in the lumbar spine are commonly found with vacuum phenomenon. In a few cases, gas can migrate into the lumbar spinal canal and compress the nerve root. . We report a case of lumbar radiculopathy caused by epidural gas collection in a 59-year-old woman. Originally, the gas was formed in the intervertebral disc and possibly migrated backward because of the motion of lumbar spine, forming a single large gas formation. The nerve root was freed from the gas-filled cyst after needle puncture was performed. Patient's symptoms in the leg were significantly relieved following surgery.
There is still no satisfactory explanation for the pathogenesis of gas formation in the spinal canal. In our case, the presence of gas in the spinal canal and gas inside a narrowed disc suggests a communication between the two structures.
腰椎间盘退变时常见真空现象。少数情况下，气体可进入腰椎管并压迫神经根。我们报告一例59岁女性因硬膜外气体聚集导致的腰椎神经根病。最初，气体在椎间盘内形成，可能因腰椎运动而后移，形成单个大的气体团块。穿刺后神经根从充满气体的囊肿中松解出来。术后患者腿部症状明显缓解。
椎管内气体形成的发病机制仍无令人满意的解释。在我们的病例中，椎管内气体和狭窄椎间盘内气体的存在提示这两个结构之间存在连通。
