Injury of the common peroneal nerve after cardiothoracic operations

BACKGROUND: To assess incidence, etiology, and clinical relevance of common peroneal nerve injury (CPNI) in patients after cardiothoracic surgery. METHODS: In an 11-year period, CPNI was detected in 39 out of 20,718 patients (0.19%): 38 times after cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) (38 of 12,726; 0.30%) and in 1 patient after a non-CPB procedure (1 of 7,992; 0.013%). These patients underwent intensive physiotherapeutic treatment. As the majority of CPNI occurred after CPB (97.4%), data of these patients were compared with a 1-year set of 1,032 patients who underwent CPB procedures. RESULTS: Patients with CPNI were older, had a higher percentage of subnormal body weight, and had considerable comorbidity such as peripheral arteriosclerotic disease, diabetes mellitus, and arrhythmias. Follow-up was complete (mean: 5.2 years; 0.4 to 10.7 years). Twenty-eight patients were free of symptoms; 10 patients complained of moderate symptoms, but were not limited in their everyday life; 1 patient still suffers from severe sensorimotor symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: CPNI after cardiothoracic surgery is rare. Duration of the operative procedure, an increased comorbidity, and a subnormal body weight are assumed to have an etiologic impact. Prognosis is mostly good, but early physiotherapeutic treatment is crucial for prognosis.