Abstract
A19-year-old female underwent epidural anesthesia for appendectomy. A23 gauge needle was used for local anesthesia at L1-2. The patient moved accidentally when the needle was inserted to infiltrate local anesthetics, and had a sharp pain on her left lower limb. A spinal needle injury was suspected. After surgery, spontaneous pain developed at the area of L5-S2 in the left lower limb, followed by hypesthesia and allodynia at the same area. Because of the appearance of allodynia, we suspected neuropathic pain caused by the spinal needle injury and started intravenous ketamine infusion therapy. Spontaneous pain and allodynia were relieved dramatically, and the patient was able to function with no difficulty during daily life. Intravenous ketamine infusion might be good for neuropathic pain due to spinal injury during epidural anesthesia.
