Subacute Upper Abdominal Pain Diagnosed as Bilateral Diabetic Thoracic Polyradiculopathy - A Case Report -

Case Report

J Korean Assoc EMG Electrodiagn Med 2014;16(2):75-79.
Published online December 31, 2014.

Received: 2 July 2014 • Revised: 6 August 2014 • Accepted: 31 August 2014

Abstract

Diabetic thoracic polyradiculopathy is characterized by abrupt onset and predominantly unilateral radicular pain in diabetic patients. It is not generally well-recognized, thus leads to misdiagnosis. A 61-year-old female patient visited outpatient clinic for severe right flank and bilateral abdomen pain. The cause of pain was not diagnosed, but uncontrolled blood sugar was revealed. Hence, she was admitted and several diagnostic studies were performed to rule out somatoform disorder, diabetic ketoacidosis, intra-abdominal disorders and polyradiculopathy of inflammation, infection, autoimmune, and neoplastic causes. Then she was consulted on further diagnostic workup and management of pain. We confirmed bilateral diabetic thoracic polyradiculopathy by electromyography and revealed that the pain was not originated from spinal diseases by thorax spine magnetic resonance image. The pain was controlled with tramadol/ acetaminophen without complication. We report this distinctive case with a brief review of the related literatures.

Key Words: diabetic neuropathies, polyradiculopathy, electromyography