A case report of lingual nerve injury after a prolonged laparoscopic cholecystectomy using supraglottic airway device (i-gel®)

Abstract

Background This is a case report of postoperative tongue numbness after a prolonged laparoscopic cholecystectomy using i-gel®. Case presentation A female patient 62 years old, ASA physical status II and with weight 72.7 kg, height 159 cm and BMI 28.8 kg/m2 had general anaesthesia using i-gel size 4 as artificial airway; vital data was stable and within normal range all through the surgery, the surgery was complicated due to the presence of intra-abdominal adhesions and the surgery was prolonged to 90 min With the insertion of surgical drains, she mentioned tongue numbness at the tip of the tongue on postoperative day 1, and this was completely resolved 4 weeks later on further follow-up. Conclusions We conclude that postoperative tongue numbness is one of the complications that should be highlighted after the i-gel®.