Retropharyngeal medialized internal carotid artery encountered prior to pediatric tonsillectomy: A case report and review of the literature

Abstract

Tonsillectomy is one of the most common surgical procedures performed in the United States with approximately 339,000 ambulatory tonsillectomies performed in 2010. Of these, an estimated 299,000 tonsillectomies were performed on patients less than 15 years of age. Damage to the internal carotid artery during routine tonsillectomy is a rare but feared complication of this relatively routine surgical procedure. We present the case of a medialized internal carotid artery encountered prior to pediatric tonsillectomy, as well as a review of the literature on internal carotid artery development and anatomic variations.

Keywords

• Tonsillectomy
• Internal carotid artery
• Pediatric surgery