Goal-oriented Rehabilitation for Paraplegic Secondary to Extra-nodal Spinal NonHodgkin’s Lymphoma

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma is a kind of cancer that develops in the immune system cells. Extranodal non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma accounts for 24%–48% of all the cases of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Primary epidural non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma is extremely uncommon. The present study describes a patient with primary epidural non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma who presented with paraplegia as a result of spinal cord compression at the D2-D4 level and was operated for the same. The weakness persisted after surgery, and the patient was referred to rehabilitation for additional care. To assess functional improvement, outcome measures such as the KLE University–Institute of Physiotherapy Functional Assessment Scale, spinal cord independence measure were used. Whereas, MMT and MAS for power and spasticity, as well as the distance (meters) walked by the patient, were recorded. The patient went through goal-oriented therapy, which lasted 30 days in successive sessions. The patient was able to walk with a walking frame without any manual support and improved on the functional measures.