Transient post‐anaesthetic foreign language fixation: two case reports

Abstract

SummaryTransient post‐anaesthetic foreign language fixation, the temporary loss of the ability to speak and/or comprehend native language with activation of a long forgotten foreign language, is extremely rare. Only five cases have previously been reported and we present two more cases of this intriguing phenomenon.Case 1: a 52‐year‐old English speaking male temporarily lost the ability to understand or speak English after uneventful orthopaedic surgery. He communicated in French which he had learnt as a child but had never spoken.Case 2: a 28‐year‐old English speaking male after an uneventful repair of an orbital floor fracture could speak only Spanish for approximately 10 min, though he retained the ability to understand English. He had learnt Spanish at school but had never used it although he admitted previous similar episodes during severe alcohol intoxication.