A man in his 80s with a biopsy-confirmed squamous cell carcinoma on his left temple. The team encountered complications such as postoperative bleeding, infection and pseudoaneurysm of the superficial temporal artery. Key learning points include recognising and managing rare complications, such as pseudoaneurysms. Pseudoaneurysm of the superficial temporal artery is a rare complication associated with cutaneous carcinoma excision and might first appear days to weeks after surgery.