Can A Nerve Be Hit While Drawing Blood

Blockage of an artery carrying blood to the spinal cord prevents the cord from getting blood and thus oxygen. As a result, tissues can die (called infarction).

Causes include severe atherosclerosis, inflammation of blood vessels, blood clots, and sometimes procedures that involve the abdominal aorta.
Sudden back pain with pain radiating from the affected area is followed by muscle weakness and inability to feel heat, cold, or pain in the affected areas and sometimes paralysis.
Magnetic resonance imaging or myelography with computed tomography is usually done.
Treatment focuses on correcting the cause if possible or relieving symptoms.
Spinal cord dysfunction and paralysis are usually permanent.

Like all tissues in the body, the spinal cord requires a constant supply of oxygenated blood. Only a few arteries, which are branches of the aorta, supply blood to the front part of the spinal cord. But this blood accounts for three fourths of the blood the spinal cord receives. Thus, blockage of any one of these arteries can be disastrous. Such a blockage occasionally results from the following:

Procedures that involve the abdominal aorta, such as surgery to repair a bulge (aneurysm) there
A blood clot that breaks off from the wall of the heart and travels through the bloodstream (becoming an embolus)—an uncommon cause

The first symptoms of a blocked spinal cord artery are usually

Sudden back pain that radiates from the center of the back around the rib cage and chest

The pain is followed by muscle weakness, and people cannot feel heat, cold, or pain in areas controlled by the part of the spinal cord below the level of the blockage. People immediately notice symptoms, which may lessen slightly over time.

If the blood supply to the front of the spinal cord is greatly reduced, the legs are numb and paralyzed. But sensations transmitted through the back of the cord—including touch, the ability to feel vibration, and the ability to sense where the limbs are without looking at them (position sense)— remain intact because the back of the cord receives blood from other sources. Problems may partly resolve after the first few days.

Magnetic resonance imaging or myelography with computed tomography (CT)
Sometimes a spinal tap

Blockage of the spinal cord's blood supply is usually suspected based on symptoms.

Treatment of the cause when possible
Relief of symptoms

When possible, the cause (such as aortic dissection or polyarteritis nodosa) is treated, but otherwise, treatment focuses on relieving symptoms and managing complications, especially when paralysis and spinal cord dysfunction do not resolve in the first few days and become permanent.

Because bladder function is usually impaired, a catheter is needed to drain urine. This treatment prevents the bladder from enlarging and being damaged.

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