Guillain-Barré syndrome in a patient with pancreatic cancer after an epidural-general anesthetic.

Bamberger, Philip D; Thys, Daniel M · Anesth Analg · 2005

case_report · Level V

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Abstract

Guillain-Barre syndrome is a rare occurrence in medicine and is probably rarer still as a postoperative complication. We report an uneventful operative course, during epidural-general anesthesia, in a patient undergoing pancreatectomy who presented with acute paralysis mimicking an acute cervical spinal cord syndrome or brachial plexus neuropathy. The signs and symptoms of right upper extremity paralysis occurred within 2 h postoperatively. Immediate work-up, which included magnetic resonance imaging, electromyography, and nerve conduction velocity studies, provided the diagnosis.

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