Acute painless paraparesis due to bilateral femoral artery occlusion

Acute peripheral arterial occlusion is a medical emergency manifesting with pain, pallor, absence of pulse, paralysis, and paresthesia. Neurological deficits have occasionally been described as the presenting symptoms of acute arterial ischemia. We report a patient with acute bilateral occlusion of the femoral arteries and an underlying severe atherosclerotic aorto-iliac disease who presented with acute painless paraplegia and anesthesia in the lower extremities. The patient underwent arterial thrombectomy of the right and left femoral artery, followed by angioplasty and stent insertion of the right and left common iliac artery within 5 h from the onset of his symptoms. Subsequent physical therapy resulted in rapid improvement in the strength of his lower extremities and the patient was able to walk unaided after two weeks.