Yang KW, Lai WH, Huang DW. Cauda equina syndrome with urinary retention as a postoperative complication of lumbar spine surgery: A case report. World J Clin Cases 2025; 13(10): 101796 [DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v13.i10.101796]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Da-Wei Huang, MD, Department of Neurosurgery, Chiayi Christian Hospital, No. 539 Zhongxiao Road, Chiayi 600566, Taiwan. huangdw.tw@gmail.com
Research Domain of This Article
Neuroimaging
Article-Type of This Article
Case Report
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Cauda equina syndrome with urinary retention as a postoperative complication of lumbar spine surgery: A case report
Kai-Wu Yang, Wei-Hong Lai, Da-Wei Huang
Kai-Wu Yang, Wei-Hong Lai, Department of Urology, Chiayi Christian Hospital, Chiayi 600566, Taiwan
Da-Wei Huang, Department of Neurosurgery, Chiayi Christian Hospital, Chiayi 600566, Taiwan
Author contributions: Yang KW and Lai WH contributed to manuscript writing and editing, and data collection; Haung DW contributed to conceptualization and supervision; all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Informed consent statement: Informed written consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this report and any accompanying images.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest to disclose.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Da-Wei Huang, MD, Department of Neurosurgery, Chiayi Christian Hospital, No. 539 Zhongxiao Road, Chiayi 600566, Taiwan. huangdw.tw@gmail.com
Received: September 27, 2024 Revised: October 31, 2024 Accepted: December 3, 2024 Published online: April 6, 2025 Processing time: 82 Days and 23.8 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Cauda equina syndrome (CES) is characterized by a group of symptoms that may be caused by inflammation, spinal cord compression, venous congestion, or ischemia. This syndrome is commonly an indication for surgical intervention but has not been determined as a postoperative complication following surgery for lumbar spine disease.
CASE SUMMARY
To report the case of a 54-year-old male patient who had CES following spinal surgery, with no obvious compression lesions found during re-exploration, suggesting that vascular insufficiency may have contributed to the condition. Furthermore, a series of urodynamic studies on bladder recovery patterns in such complications have also been investigated.
CONCLUSION
Postoperative CES requires urgent imaging and exploration to rule out compression; noncompressive cases, including vascular insufficiency may performed conservative management.
Core Tip: This report discusses postoperative Cauda equina syndrome (CES) with neurogenic bladder as a potential complication of spinal surgery. Emergency imaging is crucial to exclude spinal cord compression. If stenosis remains, further exploration is needed. Compressive lesions might not explain the patient's symptoms, suggesting vascular insufficiency. In noncompressive CES, conservative management may be appropriate. Postoperative cystometrogram findings might initially show no bladder contraction and delayed first sensation, with contractility improving later.
