Isolated paraplegia from a remote stab wound.

A stab wound to the right flank of a 24-year-old man produced immediate paralysis of both legs but spared sensation. Recovery was slow but sufficient to allow walking with a cane. Radicular artery interruption, in combination with systemic hypotension, is presumed to have caused selective watershed infarction of the spinal cord. Strokes of the spinal cord after trauma are rare, and those at a thoracic level usually represent delayed infarctions after pediatric chest or abdominal injuries. Our patient sustained an immediate and highly selective infarction.