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Paraplegia after mastoidectomy under general anesthesia
Rafael Ortega1, Suzuko Suzuki, Pavan Sekhar
1Department of Anesthesiology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA. rortega@bu.edu
American Journal of Otolaryngology
|September 2, 2009
Abstract:
We report a case of complete paraplegia after general anesthesia for a right tympanomastoidectomy without any apparent predisposing factors related to the surgical procedure or the anesthetic. The case raises the possibility that the combination of neck rotation and relative hypotension may precipitate paraplegia in patients with preexisting spinal chord pathology.
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