Internal carotid artery dissection after remote surgery. Iatrogenic complications of anesthesia.

BACKGROUND

Subintimal dissection with acute occlusion of the internal carotid artery resulting in acute cerebral infarction has not been reported as an iatrogenic complication of general anesthesia.

CASE DESCRIPTIONS: An anesthetist stretched the neck of a 44-year-old man by anchoring an anesthesia mask posterior to the angle of the jaw with overlying fingers as the patient struggled during an insufficient inhalational mask anesthetic. A 33-year-old man received an endotracheal anesthetic without struggle, but as he was turned from a supine to a prone position, his head and neck were not immobilized to rotate with his torso during the move. The next day both patients suffered acute cerebral infarctions secondary to ICA dissections and occlusions (angiographically demonstrated).

CONCLUSIONS

Stretching the soft neck tissues of anesthetized patients can cause internal carotid artery dissection and acute cerebral infarction.