Expert: JM Starkman, MD - 10/26/2009

Question
Do you know what the definition of Neurovascular Manifestation is? What are the symptoms/effect of neurovascular manifestation caused by a anesthetics?

Thanks,
Walter

Answer
A neurovascular manifestation is any resultant issue that affects nerves and blood vessels.  Since nerves and blood vessels, in general, travel together anatomically, anything like a trauma or surgery that has an effect on one is likely to influence the other--hence a "manifestation".

Many things anesthesiologists do could theoretically cause neurovascular manifestations:  placing a tiny teflon catheter into a wrist artery to more carefully measure blood pressure (required for advanced vascular and open heart surgeries) could temporarily bruise a nerve and injure the vessel, for example.   Placing a numbing solution of medication on the nerve entering the arm near the shoulder to numb the arm for hand surgery (instead of putting the patient to sleep) could cause the same type of bruising/numbness  near one's armpit and would be a neurovascular manifestation of that type of anesthetic.  

The symptoms/effects are entirely what you might expect dependent solely on where anatomically the trauma, surgery, needle placement took place:    If a needle was inserted into the base of your skull to treat a trigeminal neuralgia and a nerve or blood vessel was affected---then you might have a bruise and swelling on that side of your face with concomitant numbness there.