Hypoglossal nerve injury as a complication of anterior surgery to the upper cervical spine.
Eur Spine J
; 8(1): 78-80, 1999.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-10190859
ABSTRACT
Injury to the hypoglossal nerve is a recognised complication after soft tissue surgery in the upper part of the anterior aspect of the neck, e.g. branchial cyst or carotid body tumour excision. However, this complication has been rarely reported following surgery of the upper cervical spine. We report the case of a 35-year-old woman with tuberculosis of C2-3. She underwent corpectomy and fusion from C2 to C5 using iliac crest bone graft, through a left anterior oblique incision. She developed hypoglossal nerve palsy in the immediate postoperative period, with dysphagia and dysarthria. It was thought to be due to traction neurapraxia with possible spontaneous recovery. At 18 months' follow-up, she had a solid fusion and tuberculosis was controlled. The hypoglossal palsy persisted, although with minimal functional disability. The only other reported case of hypoglossal lesion after anterior cervical spine surgery in the literature also failed to recover. It is concluded that hypoglossal nerve palsy following anterior cervical spine surgery is unlikely to recover spontaneously and it should be carefully identified.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Paralysis
/
Postoperative Complications
/
Cervical Vertebrae
/
Cranial Nerve Diseases
/
Hypoglossal Nerve Injuries
Type of study:
Etiology_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
Limits:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
Language:
En
Journal:
Eur Spine J
Journal subject:
ORTOPEDIA
Year:
1999
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Reino Unido