Turkish Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation , Vol , Num

Postherpetic Foot Drop in An Elderly Patient: Undiagnosed Diabetes Mellitus?

Zeynep Öztürk 1 ,Ayşe Türkyılmaz 2
1 İzmir Atatürk Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi, Klinik Farmakoloji Ve Toksikoloji, İzmir, Türkiye
2 İzmir Atatürk Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi, Nöroloji, İzmir, Türkiye
DOI : 10.5152/tftrd.2015.34603

Postherpetic neuralgia is the most common complication of herpes zoster, primarily in elderly and immunocompromised patients. However, motor involvement due to herpes zoster is very rare. The purpose of this report is to present a case of postherpetic foot drop with undiagnosed diabetes mellitus and treated successfully with antidiabetic drugs. A 65-year-old male patient presented with left leg pain, numbness and difficulty walking. He was diagnosed as having herpes zoster and treated with valacyclovir. Despite anticonvulsant and physical therapy, the patient developed foot drop and had unexplained weight loss. Clinical and laboratory findings indicated that the patient had previously undiagnosed diabetes mellitus. Three weeks after initiation of insulin treatment, he became normoglycemic, his pain was also reduced, and foot drop disappeared almost completely. This report regarding postherpetic motor involvement describes a very rare condition. Postherpetic motor involvement as an unusual complication may signal an underlying systemic disease, especially in elderly.

Keywords : Postherpetic paresis, pain, foot drop, herpes zoster, diabetes