Author(s)

Shinichi Ito, Shigeki Fujiwara, Tomoaki Yatabe, Koichi Yamashita, Takeshi Yokoyama

Department of Anesthesi- ology and Critical Care Medicine, Kochi Medical School Hospital, Nankoku, Japan.
Department of Dental Anesthesiology, Faculty of Dental Science, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.

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.

Hypoglossal Nerve Injuries; Neck Dissection; Airway Obstruction; Stuttering; Deglutition Disorders

S. Ito, S. Fujiwara, T. Yatabe, K. Yamashita and T. Yokoyama, "Unexpected Airway Obstruction Caused by Bilateral Hypoglossal Nerve Palsy Following Second Radical Neck Dissection," Open Journal of Anesthesiology, Vol. 3 No. 3, 2013, pp. 123-125. doi: 10.4236/ojanes.2013.33029.