Carotid arterial hemorrhage after radical head and neck surgery

From 1960 to 1974, 63 patients treated by the Head and Neck Service of Memorial Hospital underwent carotid arterial ligation for control of actual or threatened carotid rupture. Twenty-one of these patients died without leaving the hospital. Fourteen of these deaths were the direct result of carotid ligation or hemorrhage. Five of the surviving patients suffered permanent neurologic damage. Factors predisposing to carotid rupture included a history of radiation, advanced disease, the presence of an oral or pharyngeal suture line in continuity with a dissected neck, and the postoperative development of skin necrosis or fistulas. Because elective carotid ligation did not prevent the consequences of carotid rupture and because reestablishment of vascular continuity is almost never possible, all attempts should be made to avoid the conditions that are precursors to this most serious complication of radical head and neck surgery.