You are currently viewing Lumbar Adhesive Arachnoiditis : Mnemonics

If you are finding it difficult to remember the most important things to know about Lumbar Adhesive Arachnoiditis, then the mnemonicFANATIC MELDS” will help you to remember it. 

This will be quite valuable for patients as well as medical doctors, nurses & students doing their clinical rounds. You can also find it very useful for med exams like USMLE, NEET PG, FMGE, NExT & NCLEX exams

Lumbar adhesive arachnoiditis is a rare condition that affects the nerves in the lower back. It occurs when the arachnoid membrane, which surrounds the spinal cord, becomes inflamed and sticks together, causing nerve roots to clump together and adhere to the membrane. This can result in chronic pain, numbness, tingling, and weakness in the lower back, legs, and feet.

Lumbar Adhesive Arachnoiditis : How To Remember Easily ?

  • F – Fibrosis in the subarachnoid space leads to lumbar adhesive arachnoiditis with radiculopathy.
  • A – Arachnoiditis can be caused by multiple lumbar operations, chronic spinal infections, spinal cord injury, intrathecal hemorrhage, myelography, intrathecal injections, and foreign bodies.
  • N – Nerve root adhesions present as back and leg pain with multifocal motor, sensory, or reflex changes.
  • A – Axial MRI views show clumped nerve roots or loculations of cerebrospinal fluid within the thecal sac.
  • T – Treatment for lumbar adhesive arachnoiditis is usually unsatisfactory.
  • I – Interventions like microsurgical lysis of adhesions, dorsal rhizotomy, dorsal root ganglionectomy, epidural glucocorticoids, and dorsal column stimulation have been tried, but outcomes have been poor.
  • C – Clumped nerve roots should be distinguished from enlarged nerve roots seen with demyelinating polyneuropathy or neoplastic infiltration.
  • M – Most common cause of arachnoiditis in the United States is multiple lumbar operations.
  • E – Epidural glucocorticoids are one of the interventions that have been tried for treatment of lumbar adhesive arachnoiditis.
  • L – Lumbar adhesive arachnoiditis with radiculopathy is associated with back and leg pain with multifocal motor, sensory, or reflex changes.
  • D – Dorsal rhizotomy, dorsal root ganglionectomy, and dorsal column stimulation are interventions that have been tried for treatment of lumbar adhesive arachnoiditis.
  • S – Subarachnoid fibrosis results in nerve root adhesions and presents as back and leg pain with multifocal motor, sensory, or reflex changes.

Mnemonic : FANATIC MELDS

Dr. Arin Nandi

Passionate About Medical Science & Helping Future Doctors Achieve Top Ranks In Medical Exams. He is professionally a dentist as well as a public health expert from JIPMER (1), (2)working in health department
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