CASE REPORTS   

Minerva Stomatologica 2012 July-August;61(7-8):337-40

Copyright © 2012 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English, Italian

Local anesthesia needle breakage in a 5-year-old child during inferior alveolar nerve block with the Vazirani-Akinosi technique

Bacci C. ¹, Mariuzzi M. L. ², Ghirotto C. ³, Fusetti S. ³ ✉

¹ Unit of Oral Surgery, Department of Neurosciences, University of Padua, Padua, Italy; ² Unit of Pediatric Dentistry, Department of Medical-Surgical Specialities, University of Padua, Padua, Italy; ³ Unit of Pediatric Maxillofacial Surgery Department of Neurosciences, University of Padua, Padua, Italy

Breakage of a local anesthetic needle in dentistry is a rare but potentially serious event.
Here we describe a case of breakage of a hypodermic needle during administration of local anesthesia with a Vazirani-Akinosi mandibular nerve block in a 5-year-old uncooperative patient under moderate sedation with midazolam. The needle was localized using a fluoroscopy device and then removed under general anaesthesia. The postoperative course was unremarkable, without any neurological or vascular deficits