Background: The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the frequency of neuropathy in the upper extremity after anesthesia.
Methods: We reviewed the postoperative courses of 5454 patients who had received surgical procedures at the Jichi Medical School Hospital from 2004 January to 2004 December.
Results: Neuropathy developed in 33 patients (0.7%). In 28 of 33 patients (0.6%), symptoms were minor and resolved within a few days. The remaining 5 patients (0.1%) who had complained the symptoms immediately after emergence from anesthesia had residual symptoms.
Conclusions: In our hospital, the frequency of neuropathy in the upper extremities was 0.7%. The majority of the neuropathies, however, were minor. Neuropathies persisting for a long time were infrequent complications (0.1%).