TITLE:
Unexpected Airway Obstruction Caused by Bilateral Hypoglossal Nerve Palsy Following Second Radical Neck Dissection
AUTHORS:
Shinichi Ito, Shigeki Fujiwara, Tomoaki Yatabe, Koichi Yamashita, Takeshi Yokoyama
KEYWORDS:
Hypoglossal Nerve Injuries; Neck Dissection; Airway Obstruction; Stuttering; Deglutition Disorders
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Anesthesiology,
Vol.3 No.3,
May
7,
2013
ABSTRACT: A 67-year-old woman underwent right
radical neck dissection for cervical lymph node metastasis from maxillary gingival carcinoma. Two months later,
metastasis in the left superior internal jugular lymph nodes were discovered,
and left radical neck dissection was performed. Postoperatively, airway
obstruction occurred despite performing extubation after confirming that the
patient had fully recovered from anesthesia. Bilateral hypoglossal nerve palsy
was diagnosed and the patient was reintubated. After extubation on the
following day, airway obstruction was relieved, but slurred speech and impaired
swallowing were persistent. In view of this, hypoglossal nerve function should be examined
before the second radical neck dissection on the contralateral side.