A Case of Herpes Zoster with Abdominal Muscle Paralysis

This report describes herpes zoster of a 74-year-old man with abdominal muscle paralysis. He had severe pain and vesicular eruption on the left abdomen. Herpes zoster was diagnosed and he was admitted to our hospital. He was treated with epidural block (twice a day), analgesic (diclofenac sodium) and tricyclic antidepressant (imipramine hydrochloride) for about five weeks. Over that time his pain gradually disappeared. Three weeks after the onset of herpes zoster, he noticed asymptomatic swelling in the region of herpes zoster. Physical examination revealed no tenderness and a unilateral flaccid paralysis of the left abdomen. Electromyogram revealed the neurogenic pattern in the left rectus abdominis muscle and obliquus abdominis externus muscle. Over the next three months the paralysis gradually resolved without any specific treatments.