Abdominal wall neuropraxia: a previously unreported complication of latissimus dorsi flap breast reconstruction

The latissimus dorsi flap is one of the most commonly used in breast reconstruction. We report the case of a 61-year-old female, who developed abdominal wall neuropraxia as a complication of latissimus dorsi free flap harvest. The cause of injury was compression of the T8–T12 spinal root outlets due to lateral spinal flexion during the procedure, which caused demyelination of the nerve roots. This complication is previously unreported in the literature.