Permanent cardiac pacemaker for cardiac arrest following cervico-dorsal spinal injury

Abstract

Bradycardia and rarely cardiac arrest as a complication of cervical spine injury due to reduced sympathetic activity is well known, which usually settles down in 4-6 weeks of injury. There are few case reports in literature of high cervical spinal cord injury requiring permanent cardiac pacemaker due to this complication, but an injury as low as cervico-dorsal junction requiring permanent cardiac pacemaker has never been reported. A 47-year-old male suffered traumatic C7-D1 dislocation and continued to have severe bradycardia with multiple episodes of cardiac arrest till 2 months after injury, which finally warranted permanent cardiac pacemaker as a life saving measure. Following permanent cardiac pacemaker no cardiac arrest occurred and the patient was successfully rehabilitated. The case directs our attention to a rare complication of cardiac arrest occurring in an injury as low as cervico-dorsal junction when all other causes are ruled out and shows importance of using permanent cardiac pacemaker to ensure patient safety in community.