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This report presents an interesting and unusual case of an injury sustained from a blowgun dart. The dart penetrated zone 2 of the neck, resulting in a neurological deficit consistent with a variant of Brown-Séquard syndrome referred to as "Brown-Séquard plus syndrome."
BROWN-SÉQUARD PLUS SYNDROME is an unusual variant of a well-known neurologie disorder known as Brown-Séquard Syndrome. The classic description of Brown-Séquard syndrome consists of ipsilateral hemiplegia and loss of proprioceptive sensation, with contralateral loss of pain and température sensations. This lesion is usually the result of a traumatic hemisection of the spinal cord. Not all cases of BrownSéquard syndrome fit neatly into this classic description, and thus the name "Brown-Séquard Plus" is used to identify those cases in which there are additional clinical findings. The following is a case presentation of Brown-Séquard Plus syndrome that resulted from a blowgun dart injury to the neck.
Case Report
A 17 year-old female was brought to the trauma bay with a dart penetrating into the posterior triangle in zone 2 of the right neck (Fig. 1). The injury occurred when she responded to her name being called by turning around; she experienced a sharp pain in her neck and immediately went limp. She collapsed to the ground but never lost consciousness.
On presentation, she was found to be alert and oriented. Her primary...