Horner's syndrome: Unusual complication after head and neck tumors surgery

Abstract

Objective: To describes uncommon cases of Horner's syndrome after Head and neck tumors surgery. Method: A total of 51 patients underwent surgery for head and neck tumors from January 2007 to August 2007. Clinical parameters, neurological sequel and other complications were evaluated in all cases and those developing Horner's Syndrome were studied. Results: Of the 51 patients, 5 (9.8%) developed postoperative Horner's syndrome. Their mean age of study subjects were 54.74آ±18.08 years (range 16- 80). The first case is that of a 71 -year-old female with a history of laryngeal carcinoma complicated by Horner's syndrome. The second patient is a man who presented with Hypopharyngeal carcinoma. The third case involved a woman with total thyroidectomy for papillary thyroid carcinoma. The four and fifth cases were complications of radical neck dissection. Conclusions: Post operative Horner's Syndrome is an uncommon complication of head and neck surgery. Old age and tumor size were risk factors in our study.