title: An unusual cause of unilateral facial injuries caused by horseshoe headrest during prone positional craniovertebral junction surgery.
abstract: Pressure injuries are an accepted complication of prone positioning during the neurosurgical procedures. Horseshoe headrest are intended to reduce the incidence and severity of such injuries by allowing limited areas of contact between the skin of dependent areas of contact and the supporting surfaces. We report a case where a patient positioned prone over a horseshoe headrest developed inadvertent unilateral facial pressure injuries following a 6-h long craniovertebral junction (CVJ) surgery. We attempt to highlight this complication, analyze its causation, and briefly review the existing literature related to similar reported injuries.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Chetna
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Shamshery
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Rudrashish
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Haldar
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Arun
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Srivastava
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Ashutosh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kaushal
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Shashi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Srivastava
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Prabhat K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Singh
keywords: Craniovertebral junction (CVJ); dependent contact point; horseshoe headrest; pressure injuries; prone position