Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-02T19:01:38.331Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Effects of a sensory branch to the posterior external ear canal: coughing, pain, Ramsay Hunt's syndrome and Hitselberger's sign

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 February 2017

S Mulazimoglu ,
R Flury ,
S Kapila  and
T Linder
S Mulazimoglu
Affiliation:
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Luzerner Kantonsspital, Luzern, Switzerland
R Flury
Affiliation:
Department of Pathology, Winterthur Kantonsspital, Switzerland
S Kapila
Affiliation:
Sydney City ENT, Australia
T Linder*
Affiliation:
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Luzerner Kantonsspital, Luzern, Switzerland
*
Address for correspondence: Dr Thomas Linder, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Luzerner Kantonsspital, Spitalstrasse, CH-6000 Luzern, Switzerland Fax: +41 41 205 49 95 E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background:

A distinct nerve innervating the external auditory canal can often be identified in close relation to the facial nerve when gradually thinning the posterior canal wall. This nerve has been attributed to coughing during cerumen removal, neuralgic pain, Hitselberger's sign and vesicular eruptions described in Ramsay Hunt's syndrome. This study aimed to demonstrate the origin and clinical impact of this nerve.

Methods and results:

In patients with intractable otalgia or severe coughing whilst inserting a hearing aid, who responded temporarily to local anaesthesia, the symptoms could be resolved by sectioning a sensory branch to the posterior canal. In a temporal bone specimen, it was revealed that this nerve is predominantly a continuation of Arnold's nerve, also receiving fibres from the glossopharyngeal nerve and facial nerve. Histologically, the communicating branch from the facial nerve was confirmed.

Conclusion:

Surgeons should be aware of the posterior auricular sensory branch and its clinical implications.

Keywords

Facial NerveFacial Nerve Sensory DisordersExternal Auditory CanalTemporal BoneEaracheNeuralgiaCough
Type
Main Articles
Information
The Journal of Laryngology & Otology , Volume 131 , Issue 4 , April 2017 , pp. 329 - 333
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Hitselberger, W, House, W. Acoustic neuroma diagnosis. External auditory canal hypesthesia as an early sign. Arch Otolaryngol 1966;83:218–21CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2 Grey, P. The clinical significance of the communicating branches of the somatic sensory supply of the middle and external ear. J Laryngol Otol 1995;109:1141–5CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3 Ulubil, SA, Eshraghi, AA, Telischi, FF. Sectioning the sensory auricular branch of the facial nerve to treat recalcitrant otalgia. Otol Neurotol 2009;30:522–4Google Scholar
4 Hunt, JR. The sensory field of the facial nerve: a further contribution to the symptomatology of the geniculate ganglion. Brain 1915;38:418–46Google Scholar
5 Schuknecht, HF. Pathology of the Ear. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1974 Google Scholar
6 Lang, J. Clinical Anatomy of the Head. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1983 Google Scholar
7 Eshraghi, AA, Buchman, CA, Telischi, FF. Sensory auricular branch of the facial nerve. Otol Neurotol 2002;23:393–6Google Scholar

Mulazimoglu supplementary material

Supplementary Video

Download Mulazimoglu supplementary material(Video)
Video 118.6 MB