Cranial nerve injuries during carotid endarterectomy.

Our experience with patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy over a 10 year period has been retrospectively reviewed. Nerve injuries were detected by reviewing postoperative progress and clinic notes. One hundred twenty-nine procedures were performed on 112 patients, 12 of whom (9.3 percent) sustained major nerve injuries. These included five vagal nerve injuries causing ipsilateral vocal cord paralysis and hoarseness, four injuries of the marginal mandibular nerve, and three injuries of the hypoglossal nerve. Evidence of nerve dysfunction was not present preoperatively. None of the patients with nerve injury sustained a stroke as a result of carotid operation. Vocal cord paralysis was documented by indirect laryngoscopy. The incidence of cranial nerve injury during carotid endarterectomy appears to be higher than expected, particularly if asymptomatic patients are investigated; however, most injuries are transient and result not from transection but from trauma during dissection, retraction, and clamping of the vessels. The pertinent anatomy and techniques for preventing these injuries have been reviewed.