Abstract
We report a case with diffuse oral facial cavernous hemangioma in whom severe airway obstruction occurred after intratumoral ligation. The patient was a 13-yr-old girl whose medical history included embolization and partial resection of the hemangioma. Intratumoral ligation sutures were then placed into the left facial segment of the hemangioma under general anesthesia. The second surgery was necessary to control minor hemorrhage by placing compressing dressings sutured onto the left side of the face.
The patient's tongue, lips, and pharyngeal wall were greatly swollen after surgery, and nasotracheal intubation was necessary for more than two weeks to maintain airway patency. The hemangioma swelling of the oropharynx regressed rapidly after removal of the compressing dressings applied to the face. The clinical course as well as findings obtained by computerized tomography scanning suggest that substantial displacement of blood from the subcutaneous segment of the hemangioma induced marked swelling of the oropharyngeal segment of the hemangioma resulting in critical obstruction of the airway.
