Spontaneous Cervical Epidural Hematoma Following COVID-19 Illness Presenting to a Chiropractor

“

A 64-year-old man presented to a chiropractor with a two-week history of sudden-onset neck pain, shoulder pain, occipital headache, and numbness in the shoulders and upper extremities. He had recovered from a mild course of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) illness one month prior. The patient’s primary care provider had previously prescribed a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug for his neck pain. However, his symptoms worsened, and he visited the emergency department where he had unremarkable cervical spine radiographs and was discharged with a diagnosis of neck strain. The chiropractor ordered cervical spine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), revealing a ventral CEH extending from C2 to C5. The chiropractor referred the patient to a nearby hospital for urgent management. The patient was admitted and observed, progressively improved, and did not require surgery. After 10 weeks in the hospital the patient was asymptomatic, a follow-up MRI revealed resolution of the CEH, and the patient was discharged.

”