Trauma induced eagle syndrome

Abstract

Eagle syndrome is characterized by secondary calcification and elongation of the styloid process. Eagle syndrome is often associated with sharp, intermittent pain along the path of the glossopharyngeal nerve located in the hypopharynx and at the base of the tongue. In some cases, the stylohyoid apparatus can compress the internal and/or the external carotid arteries and their perivascular sympathetic fibres, resulting in a persistent pain radiating throughout the carotid territory. The pathogenesis of the syndrome is not understood. The authors report the case of a 52-year-old woman with post traumatic Eagle syndrome-like pain and pseudoarthrosis of the stylohyoid ligament.