A Case of Delayed Spontaneous Aneurismal Rupture after Ear Surgery Under General Anesthesia

Many complications have been reported after ear surgery to treat chronic inflammation. These complications include facial nerve paralysis, perichondritis, injury of the dura or of the sigmoid sinus, cyst formation or mucocele in the healed mastoid cavity, and the recurrence of cholesteatoma, granulation tissue, or otorrhea. It might be believed that there could be no relation between ear surgery and spontaneous aneurysmal rupture, and only one other case of spontaneous aneurysmal rupture after ear surgery under general anesthesia has been previously reported in Korea. However, recently, the authors encountered a case of delayed spontaneous aneurysmal rupture 3 weeks after surgery. No problem was experienced during the operation, and it is suspected that an unidentified pre-existing aneurysm was responsible for the intracerebral hemorrhage.