CEREBRAL COMPLICATIONS FOLLOWING LIGATION OF THE CAROTID ARTERY

Abstract

Ligation of the carotid artery has been used over a considerable period as a therapeutic measure for a variety of serious craniocerebral conditions. Originally it was used as an emergency measure in an effort to control severe hemorrhage following lacerations of the great vessels of the neck and head (Pilcher and Thuss1). During the middle years of the nineteenth century it was attempted for the purpose of relieving the then incurable cerebral disorders, as for example intense trifacial neuralgia and chronic epilepsy. However, the mortality was high and the permanent residual symptoms of recovered patients serious. Consequently the operation was discarded. In the past thirty years, with the increasing safety of surgical measures, the procedure has been reintroduced, particularly in the treatment of arteriovenous aneurysms, either anomalous or traumatic (Campbell and Martin,2Gutmann3). In certain instances ligation of the vessels has been carried out for peritonsillar (Greenfield