Cureus, 2017 · DOI: 10.7759/cureus.1028 · Published: February 14, 2017
Nerve root avulsion is a severe injury where spinal nerve roots tear completely, often from high-energy trauma like motor vehicle collisions. This can lead to cerebrospinal fluid accumulating around the damaged nerve roots, forming a pseudomeningocele. Sometimes, hematomas (blood clots) can also form, causing further complications. Diagnosis involves MRI, physical exams, and nerve conduction studies to find the injury and assess neurological deficits. This paper presents a case of a young man who experienced a motor vehicle collision, resulting in nerve root avulsion, pseudomeningocele, and epidural hematoma formation.
Clinicians should be aware of the possibility of rare complications like spinal epidural hematoma in cases of traumatic nerve root avulsion, even in the absence of immediate compressive myelopathy symptoms.
In neurologically stable patients with spinal epidural hematomas secondary to nerve root avulsion, conservative management may be appropriate.
Further research into nerve grafting techniques is required to improve the treatment of avulsive nerve injuries.