Facial blanching after local anesthesia injection: Clinico-anatomical correlation—Review of literature

Facial blanching as a complication of local anesthesia is reported in dentistry. Inadvertent arterial penetration and subsequent vasospasm has been accepted as the mechanism of this phenomenon. Most cases occur after inferior alveolar nerve block injection. In this article, five cases are reported a...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Amin Rahpeyma, Saeedeh Khajehahmadi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2020-01-01
Series:Journal of Cutaneous and Aesthetic Surgery
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.jcasonline.com/article.asp?issn=0974-2077;year=2020;volume=13;issue=1;spage=1;epage=4;aulast=Rahpeyma
Description
Summary:Facial blanching as a complication of local anesthesia is reported in dentistry. Inadvertent arterial penetration and subsequent vasospasm has been accepted as the mechanism of this phenomenon. Most cases occur after inferior alveolar nerve block injection. In this article, five cases are reported after Gow-Gates injection, maxillary nerve block via greater palatine foramen, inferior alveolar nerve block, and maxillary buccal infiltration. It is the largest case series in this topic. Also, clinico-anatomical correlation between facial–mucosal blanching and the site of intra-arterial injection is explained. To the best of our knowledge, partial blanching of the face subsequent to buccal infiltration is reported for the first time in this article. Cutaneous surgeon should be aware of this complication and should not carry out unnecessary treatment.
ISSN:0974-2077