Post-COVID-19 vaccine ‘Stiff Person Syndrome’—consequential or coincidental?

Abstract

Stiff person syndrome (SPS) is a rare autoimmune neurological disorder characterized by progressive muscle stiffness, painful spasms, and impaired mobility. While COVID-19 vaccines have been associated with rare neurological complications, no published cases of SPS following vaccination have been documented in the medical literature to date. We present the case of a 45-year-old female with chronic pain, well controlled on gabapentin, who developed typical SPS manifestations within two weeks of receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. She was subsequently evaluated by a neurologist and diagnosed with SPS. This report highlights a potential temporal association between COVID-19 vaccination and SPS while reviewing existing surveillance and systematic reviews that have not identified such a complication. The case raises important questions regarding causality versus coincidence in rare post-vaccine syndromes.

Keywords: COVID-19; Stiff person syndrome; vaccine

Citation: Purvez A, Bashir M. Post-COVID-19 vaccine ‘Stiff Person Syndrome’—consequential or coincidental? Anaesth. pain intensive care 2026;30(2):279-281. DOI: 10.35975/apic.v30i2.3139

Received: September 18, 2025; Revised: December 26, 2025; Accepted: January 28, 2026