In general, carotid endarterectomy(CEA)for high cervical internal carotid artery(ICA)stenosis is considered a difficult technique. Among 132 patients who underwent CEA between May, 1996 and December, 2012 in our institute, 22 showed high cervical ICA stenosis. A wide operation field was obtained by wide range dissection of shallow anatomical structures without special techniques and the first cervical vertebra was palpable in all patients. All patients underwent CEA and adverse events occurred in 4 patients. We describe the technique and pitfalls of CEA for high cervical ICA stenosis from the anatomical viewpoint.