A Case of Remote Cerebellar Hemorrhage in Spinal Surgery without Dural Injury: Case Report.

INTRODUCTION: Remote cerebellar hemorrhage (RCH) has been reported as a serious complication of spine surgery and is considered to be caused by dural injury. However, we have experienced a case in which intracranial hemorrhage occurred immediately after lumbar spine surgery without dural tear. There were no reports of RCH in spinal surgery without dural injury as far as we could find.

CASE REPORT: We described a rare presentation of an 80-year-old male who suffered a loss of consciousness after lumbar surgery. He was diagnosed with impaired consciousness due to chronic and acute intracranial hemorrhage. He went through two hematoma removal surgeries and his consciousness improved.

CONCLUSION: RCH can occur in spinal surgery in patients with predicted cerebrovascular fragility, even in the absence of dural injury. Pre-operative imaging evaluation could be useful in assessing cerebrovascular fragility.