title: Anesthesia dolorosa caused by penetrating cranial injury.
abstract: Anesthesia dolorosa (AD) is an uncommon complication of surgical treatments for trigeminal neuralgia. Its incidence is around 0.8%. To our best knowledge, AD caused by a penetrating cranial injury has not been reported previously. We report the case of a 31-year-old male patient with left-sided neuropathic keratitis and AD that began 18 years earlier, following a penetrating cranial injury with a knife to the left postauricular area. The patient was successfully treated by a carbamazepine and gabapentin combination. In conclusion, penetrating cranial injury is uncommon but may cause a serious neurologic disturbance. In the differential diagnosis of AD, a penetrating injury should be kept in mind. In these cases, treatments should be effective and immediate; otherwise, this may result in catastrophic consequences such as neurotrophic keratitis and blindness. Ophthalmologists should be aware of these potential problems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Medical School, Dicle University, TR-21280 Diyarbakir, Turkey. mtatli@dicle.edu.tr
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tatli
authors.forename: Ugur
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Keklikci
authors.forename: Ufuk
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Aluclu
authors.forename: Sedat
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Akdeniz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000758:Anesthesia; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology*; D012678:Sensation Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D014950:Wounds, Penetrating / Q000473:pathology*