Korean J Pain.  2006 Jun;19(1):119-122. 10.3344/kjp.2006.19.1.119.

Pulmonary Thromboembolism Presenting with Upper Thoracic Back Pain: A case report

• Lee JY
• Choi JH
• Choi CH

• KMID: 2278030
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3344/kjp.2006.19.1.119

Abstract

Upper thoracic back pain can be musculoskeletal in origin or it could be visceral referred pain, which may be indicative of a serious medical condition. We experienced a case of a 55-years-old female patient who complained of upper thoracic back pain for 1 month, which started 10 days after a traffic accident. She described the pain as being a dull, constant nagging sensation with an intensity of 4/10 on the visual analogue scale. Her pain did not subside after trigger point injection of the rhomboid and trapezius muscles. She reported intermittent palpitation, which indicated that the cardiovascular or pulmonary systems were involved. She was diagnosed with pulmonary thromboembolism by the imaging studies. Refractory upper thoracic back pain should be investigated to rule out this treatable, but potentially fatal condition.

Keyword

pulmonary thromboembolism; upper thoracic back pain; visceral referred pain

MeSH Terms

Accidents, Traffic
Back Pain*
Female
Humans
Pain, Referred
Pulmonary Embolism*
Sensation
Superficial Back Muscles
Trigger Points