A 77-year-old woman with multiple medical problems was admitted to the hospital for an elective knee replacement. She was kept on heparin therapy due to the risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) during inpatient setting. The orthopedic surgeon prescribed enoxaparin for DVT prophylaxis at the time of admission. At the time of surgery, the anesthesiologist felt that an epidural anesthetic would be safer than general anesthesia in this patient, and placed an epidural catheter to administer the anesthetic.
The surgery went well, but soon after surgery, the patient developed new-onset lower extremity weakness. Source: Patient safety network What could be the cause of lower extremity weakness in this case? * This case is by Docplexus Editorial Team for educational purpose only.
