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| Greater
Auricular Neuralgia |
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An
unusual neuralgia of the greater auricular nerve is a rare occurrence.
Blumenthal (1992) described a patient with this condition which resulted
from a skin incision to insert a cardiac pacemaker. Three months after
the pacemaker implantation, the patient developed a tingling neuralgic
discomfort in his left shoulder and radiating up the later side of his
neck to the angle of his jaw and behind his ear. Initially, it occurred
every two to three days, but within three to four months the frequency
increased to the point where he had neuralgic parasthesias several times
a day. The patient responded partially to treatment with carbamezepine.
The anatomy and presumed pathophysiology were discussed by Blumenthal
suggesting that there was overlap of the great auricular nerve and
supraclavicular nerves of the cervical plexus which could be injured by
local irritation of severed cutaneous nerves producing the advertent
sensations described.
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