Twenty one year old woman improving after wisdom teeth removal caused brain injury

A young woman from Kansas is improving after spending months recovering from brain injury that occurred after having wisdom teeth removed in March 2018. The woman was finishing up her senior year of college and planning a wedding prior to going into cardiac arrest and suffering brain injury from wisdom teeth surgery. She spent a month in intensive care and then moved to a rehabilitation center for seven months.

While at the rehabilitation center, the woman learned to walk again with the help of a robotic exoskeleton. She now uses sign language to communicate and has regained some lost vision.

Some members of the woman’s community helped to set up an online raffle to help chip in for expenses now that the woman is attending physical therapy three times a week to continue to improve. Originally the doctors thought the woman would spend at least two years at the rehabilitation center before being released. In the eyes of many who oversaw her care getting released in the time she did was a miracle. As a result, the woman has given an award to celebrate her achievements by nurses and therapists at the rehabilitation center.

While brain injury as a result of having wisdom teeth extracted is very rare, unfortunately there have been other cases, see for example https://blog.teethremoval.com/wisdom-teeth-removal-can-lead-to-brain-damage/. In one case a young man had to also learn how to walk again and had vision problems as a result of having wisdom teeth removed.

Sources:

Jessie Wagoner, “Emporia State student inspires fundraising movement,”
The Emporia Gazette, Dec. 21, 2018, http://www.emporiagazette.com/area_news/article_7ae150cc-28cf-51ae-a970-c68b3f861207.html

Molly Bernard, “21-year-old making strides after wisdom tooth extraction caused brain injury,” KETV Omaha ABC7, Oct. 17, 2018, https://www.ketv.com/article/21-year-old-making-strides-after-wisdom-tooth-extraction-caused-brain-injury/23877131