A member asked:

I had my ankle repaid yesterday from a car accident. the surgery was about 5 hours long. i had a question about post op that no one could answer at the time of discharge (nurses around met that i could ask) 1. the tip of my tongue is numb. it hasn't got

4 doctors weighed in across 3 answers
Dr. Edward Hellman answered

Specializes in Orthopedic Surgery

Be seen: I don't think your entire question fully came through. Certainly if you had a five hour surgery yesterday and are concerned you are having a complication I would contact your surgeon or the hospital directly. Numbness in the tongue could be potentially from the endotracheal tube you probably had in your airway during surgery. Again, I would contact them directly with any questions/concerns.

Answered 1/6/2016

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5 hr tongue compress: During the surgery you had a tube in your mouth unless the surgery was done under local or spinal anesthesia. The tube compressed your tongue. If the surgery was done with spinal, a reaction to medications used during surgery is the cause. Either way it will get better in time

Answered 1/16/2016

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Dr. Herman Hammerstead answered

Specializes in Trauma Surgery

Neuropraxia: I assume you had GET anesthesia for the surgery. The ET in your mouth probably put pressure on your tongue and caused damage to a branch of your lingual nerve. This should resolve in 3-4 weeks Talk to the anesthesiologist about this

Answered 3/1/2016

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