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Fulminant post-tonsillectomy haemorrhage caused by aberrant course of the external carotid artery

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 March 2006

Rutger Hofman
Affiliation:
Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
Clark J Zeebregts
Affiliation:
Department of Surgery, Division of Vascular Surgery, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
Frederik G Dikkers
Affiliation:
Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

Abstract

Haemorrhage, throat pain and otalgia are common complications following tonsillectomy. Haemorrhage is rarely life-threatening but in this paper we describe a fulminant secondary haemorrhage due to an aberrant external carotid artery in an eight-year-old boy. Acute surgical intervention with ligation of the external carotid artery was needed to control the bleeding.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2005 Royal Society of Medicine Press

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