title: Cervical spinal cord compression after thyroidectomy under general anesthesia.
abstract: Cervical spinal cord injury is a rare but serious complication after general anesthesia. The risk factors include traumatic cervical injury, cervical spine instability, and difficult airway management. It has also occurred in the absence of cervical instability. Here we report a patient who had a history of intermittent neck pain without numbness. Preoperative radiologic examinations showed degenerative changes in the cervical spine. She developed progressive tingling and numbness in her limbs after thyroidectomy under general anesthesia. Magnetic resonance imaging showed a cervical disc protruding into the canal at C5-C6, which was considered to be induced by surgical positioning. She recovered after anterior cervical decompression and internal fixation surgery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, China.
authors.forename: Wenlong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.forename: Zhiqiang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Chuanhan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000768:Anesthesia, General / Q000379:methods*; D066193:Cervical Cord; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000473:pathology; D019299:Decompression, Surgical / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008875:Middle Aged; D019547:Neck Pain / Q000209:etiology; D013117:Spinal Cord Compression / Q000209:etiology*; D013965:Thyroidectomy / Q000009:adverse effects*