Anesthesia and Pain Medicine  2016;11(3):313-317

doi:10.17085/apm.2016.11.3.313

Painful Horner syndrome after thyroidectomy: A case report.

Myung Su LEE 1 ; Young Joong SUH ; Eun Ha SUK ; Cheon Hee PARK

Affiliations

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Keywords

Horner syndrome; Pain; Thyroidectomy

Country

Republic of Korea

Language

Korean

Abstract

Horner syndrome is characterized by miosis, partial blepharoptosis and anhidrosis on the affected side of the face. This syndrome develops when the oculosympathetic nerve pathways to the eye and face are interrupted by various causes such as tumor in the brain, intrathoracic region or neck, surgery, drugs, trauma, carotid artery dissection, and others. It is referred to as painful Horner syndrome when Horner syndrome is accompanied by hemifacial pain. Pain is probably related to trigeminal nerve injury. Horner syndrome is a rare complication of thyroidectomy. Here, we report the case of a patient who experienced ipsilateral painful Horner syndrome after total thyroidectomy and unilateral neck dissection for thyroid cancer.