Amputation neuromas of the great auricular nerve after rhytidectomy.
A 56-year-old woman presented with complaints of a tender nodule in the anterior triangle of her left neck. The nodule, which was easily palpable through the skin, was approximately 1 x 1.5 cm in size and was, at first, thought to be a lymph node. At operation, a large neuroma of the distal terminus of the transected great auricular nerve was found. Significantly, the patient had undergone a full rhytidectomy some 9 years previously, and it appears that the neuroma was a consequence of iatrogenic injury to the nerve at that time.
de Chalain
T
T
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Emory Clinic, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
Nahai
F
F
D005145:Face / Q000294:innervation*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009334:Neck Muscles / Q000294:innervation / Q000601:surgery*; D009463:Neuroma / Q000209:etiology*; D015361:Rhytidoplasty / Q000009:adverse effects*