Tetraplegia associated with post-operative syringomyelia in spinal tuberculosis: a result of an epidural compartment syndrome?

The commonly recognized causes of post-operative neurological deterioration in spinal tuberculosis are inadequate decompression, damage to vascular supply of the spinal cord, and multi-drug resistant organisms. There are no known cases of syringomyelia developing after surgical decompression of spinal tuberculosis. A teenage girl presented with rapid onset quadriparesis secondary to a tubercular epidural abscess extending from C4-T8. The neurological status deteriorated to quadriplegia immediately following decompression by hemilaminectomy at C7 and T7 levels. Investigations into the cause of neurological deterioration revealed syrinx formation at T5–9 levels. The patient had partial motor and sensory recovery in the first 3 weeks post-operatively. Tubercular infection was treated with a 1-year course of multi-drug anti-tubercular therapy. However, there was no further neurological improvement at 2 years follow-up. Syringomyelia in tuberculosis has been associated with tubercular meningitis, intradural tuberculomas, and post-surgical vascular insult. None of these were implicated as the cause of syrinx formation in this case. We hypothesize that the rapid evolution of epidural abscess in an intact vertebral column led to an acute “epidural compartment syndrome”, which caused ischemic damage to the spinal cord. Compression caused by the epidural abscess was relieved by surgical decompression, allowing the central canal to dilate and expand into the softened spinal parenchyma, hence leading to syrinx formation.