Progressive Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy: A Case Report Describing Evaluation and Management for a Patient in an Acute Care Inpatient Setting

Kristi Greene Kelch¹, Michael Ross^2, , Ryan Elliott³ and Michael Tall⁴

¹Agile Physical Therapy, Palo Alto, CA

²Department of Physical Therapy, Daemen College, Amherst, NY

³Departments of Medicine and Physical Therapy, Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, Vallejo, CA

⁴San Antonio Uniformed Health Educational Consortium, San Antonio, TX

Cite this paper

Kristi Greene Kelch, Michael Ross, Ryan Elliott and Michael Tall. Progressive Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy: A Case Report Describing Evaluation and Management for a Patient in an Acute Care Inpatient Setting. American Journal of Medical Case Reports. 2017; 5(4):86-88. doi: 10.12691/AJMCR-5-4-3

Abstract

The patient was an 80 year old woman admitted to the hospital in an inpatient setting for pain control and further evaluation after a fall at home which resulted in severe low back pain and difficulty walking. Physical therapy was consulted to assess gait and transfer capabilities. At the time of initial physical therapy examination, the patient demonstrated poor bed mobility and transfer capabilities. She also demonstrated poor to fair upper or lower extremity strength with more pronounced weakness on the right. General hyperreflexia was noted (hyperactive bilateral deep tendon reflexes, positive bilateral Hoffman reflex, bilateral Babinski sign). A computed tomography scan of the head and magnetic resonance imaging of the cervical spine were ordered to assess for a cerebrovascular accident and cervical myelopathy, respectively. The cervical magnetic resonance imaging confirmed the diagnosis of cervical spondylotic myelopathy (Figure 1). The patient subsequently underwent successful surgical decompression laminoplasty from C3 to C6.

Keywords

cervical spine, myelopathy, acute care

Copyright

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References

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