Giant Iatrogenic Lumbar Pseudomeningocele: A Case Report and Literature Review
Post-discectomy pseudomeningocele was reported first in 1947 by Swanson and Fincher.
Three-years later in 1950, Winkler et al2
reported two additional cases of a pseudomeningocele after
a lumbar discectomy. In 1968, Miller et al3
reported 10 new cases
and classified pseudomeningoceles into congenital, iatrogenic and
traumatic. Congenital pseudomeningoceles have been described in
the patients with Marfan disease and neurofibromatosis mostly in
the thoracic and lumbosacral regions respectively
Majority of the traumatic pseudomeningoceles develop
subsequent to blunt traumatic events and are mostly seen in the
cervical spine, but seldom in the lumbar region or with penetrating injuries.
Iatrogenic pseudomeningoceles may occur in the lumbar,
cervical or thoracic regions in decreasing frequency.
The cause of these cystic cerebrospinal fluid-containing lesions are incidental dural tears.
Most of the pseudomeningoceles remain relatively minute and
a small number will grow above 5 cm in size which are classified as large.
Herein, we present a middle age woman with giant pseudomeningocele
which had developed after L4-L5 discectomy.
With consideration of the previously published cases of giant pseudomeningocele
with detailed information, the current case will be the 21st in the literature.
The detailed information of 21 cases with iatrogenic
giant lumbar pseudomeningoceles including the current case are
presented separately.
Orthop Res Traumatol Open J. 2021; 6(1): 1-7. doi: 10.17140/ORTOJ-6-121
