New-Onset Neurologic Deficits After General Anesthesia for MRI

Two patients with spine disease were unable to tolerate supine placement for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) because of severe back pain. General anesthesia was administered to enable the patients to undergo MRI. Both patients awakened from anesthesia with new-onset paraplegia and underwent emergency decompressive laminectomy. Acute paraplegia after anesthesia occurs infrequently and is most commonly associated with mechanical injury, vascular compromise, or anesthetic technique. The physical limitations of the MRI environment make it difficult to position some patients in a manner that accommodates their pathophysiology and may place certain patients at risk of neurologic compromise. For this subset of patients, the necessity of MRI with general anesthesia should be reassessed and alternative imaging methods considered.