Phrenic nerve palsy after heart surgery. The Bichat Hospital experience

The frequency of phrenic nerve palsy varies from 2.5 to 8.3%, according to different authors. Contact of the phrenic nerve with cold (ice or saline) seems to be the most frequent etiology. This study points out that good insulation between phrenic nerve and ice slush, used in the pericardium, results in almost complete disappearance of this complication, which is not a benign one, as emphasized by the two deaths in our series.