Transient facial nerve palsy after general anesthesia: A case report

Korean J Anesthesiol. 2009 Apr;56(4):443-445. doi: 10.4097/kjae.2009.56.4.443.

Abstract

A 44-year-old woman underwent a breast cancer operation under general anesthesia. We performed bronchoscope guided intubation along with a jaw thrust maneuver on the patient to achieve a good visual field. The patient complained of left lower lip weakness after the operation. The lower lip of the patient was deviated to the right. The cause might have been a temporary compression of the left facial nerve at the mandibular angle during performance of the jaw thrust maneuver. Fortunately, the patient's palsy recovered completely during the following one month. We report here on a case of transient facial nerve palsy after general anesthesia, and this occurred despite performing a very short duration of jaw thrust.

Keywords: Facial nerve palsy; Jaw thrust; Temporary compression.