Complications of cerebrospinal fluid drainage in thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm repair

Spinal cord ischemia resulting in postoperative paraplegia is a devastating complication of thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm repair, and has been attributed to many causes. To prevent spinal cord compartment syndrome, cerebrospinal fluid drainage has been used as an adjunct to thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm repair, with procedure-related complications generally occurring infrequently. We present two case reports of serious complications from CSF drainage.