Expert: Ronald Levy, M.D. - 3/9/2008

Question
QUESTION: I had a laproscopic surgery to remove endometriosis tissue growing outside of the uterus.  It has been about 5 weeks after my surgery and I still have a small portion of my bottom lip that feels like it was burned and has slight numbness.  I mentioned this to my anesthesiologist about a  week after the surgery and he did not have an answer for me.  While it is a small area on my lower lip, it is still annoying.  Will it ever go away?  Should I be concerned?

ANSWER: This could be caused by a number of things (most likely the endotracheal tube or the oral airway was compressing the area during the surgery). It should go away although I can't give you an exact timeframe.

Ronald Levy, MD
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology
UTMB-Galveston


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: OK...thanks; could it be related to some kind of nerve damage from anesthesia??  It feels like part of my lip stayed big/numb (like after you leave the dentist when you get numbed from getting a filling). I just never had this before and this was my 4th time with general anesthesia.

Answer
There is no "named" nerve to the lip but obviously pressure on the lip may have caused one of the branches to be injured. It should recover although nerves take notoriously long to recover.

Ronald Levy, MD
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology
UTMB-Galveston