Delayed Recovery from Anesthesia Following Suboccipital Craniotomy: A Case Report and Literature Review

Delayed awakening from anesthesia is defined as failure to regain consciousness within 20-30 min Dіer a surgical procedure. Нe most common causes of delayed awakening are benign and mostly related to residual anesthetic eوٴects However, some causes are uncommon. Low incidence impedes the design of meaningful clinical trials investigating potential mechanisms and risk factors. In neurosurgery, acute intracranial pathology is a feared possibility. To ensure that neurosurgical complications are diagnosed timely, it is desirable to perform an early neurological assessment immediately Dіer anesthesia recovery. Delayed anesthesia emergence precludes neurological assessment and may be caused by an array of benign or life-threatening conditions. Patients who do not awaken promptly are urgently subjected to diagnostic procedures. Herein, we report a patient who failed to emerge from anesthesia Dіer suboccipital craniotomy. He was normothermic, hemodynamically stable, and spontaneously breathing. Нe pupils were equal in size and reactive to light. A computed tomography (CT) brain scan and blood gas analysis were unremarkable. However, the patient could not follow commands. After 6 h, recovery was improved and the trachea was extubated. It is likely that the failure to awaken was caused by hypoperfusion of the brainstem during the surgical manipulations.

We report a patient who, following termination of general anesthesia, did not regain consciousness and recovery completely until 6 h Dіer the end of the surgery. He was initially unresponsive to painful stimuli. Нe delayed emergence was likely related to hypoperfusion of brainstem due to the surgical manipulations.

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