Tongue lacerations in a geriatric dog after bilateral inferior alveolar nerve blocks with bupivacaine

Abstract

This report describes a 13-year-old, 41.5 kg, male neutered, Rhodesian ridgeback that had lacerated its tongue on postanaesthetic recovery after administration of bilateral inferior alveolar nerve blocks (IANBs). IANBs are a commonly used locoregional anaesthesia technique for oral and dental procedures. An often-mentioned complication is tongue laceration; however, there are no case reports of such events in the literature for cats or dogs. To the author’s knowledge, this is the first case report of such an event. This complication was attributed to the administration of bilateral IANBs using 1.5 ml of 0.5 per cent bupivacaine per block. Other differentials included lateral tongue positioning on extubation, emergence delirium or dysphoria and a presumptive degenerative myelopathy.

Local and regional anaesthesia in dogs and cats: Descriptions of specific local and regional techniques (Part 2)

“…• Desensitization of the lingual nerve and self-trauma to the tongue might occur with incorrect placement or use of excessive local anaesthetic drug volume, as evidenced by the one published case report of this complication in which the volume injected was 3x the volume recommended by the authors of this manuscript (Chau, 2017). The authors have not experienced this complication and block both sides simultaneously on a regular basis.…”