Postoperative airway obstruction due to Tapia’s syndrome after coronary bypass grafting surgery

The same authors suggested that the ascending pharyngeal branch of the carotid artery provides exclusive blood supply to cranial nerves X and XII, and thus carotid dissection after minor trauma may lead to sudden cranial nerve X and XII palsies. Extreme care must be taken in the placement of the head during every procedure and in endotracheal tube position as this may result in bilateral hypoglossal and recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis, which should be considered possible, whenever extubation fails owing to upper airway obstruction.