[Neurological complications following anesthesia - part II]

Neurological complications after surgery may have fatal consequences for the patient or lead to disability and inability to work. Similar to central nervous complications such as stroke, postoperative visual loss, postoperative cognitive deficit and delirium, peripheral neurological complications following anaesthesia can be decisively influenced or almost avoided by an optimized anaesthesiological management. In the present article typical peripheral neurologic complications which can occur after regional anesthesia, central venous puncture and insertion of arterial or venous cannulas as well as etiology, diagnosis and therapy of peripheral nervous damage are described. Moreover the paper gives recommendations on intraoperative positioning of the patient and presents medicolegal aspects in the perioperative setting.