[ccaleb]

That this happened from a local anesthetic is very, very strange. Before reading the story I wondered what combo of drugs they'd used to knock him out, because those can be risky. While I don't see any direct relation, this article makes me recall another discussing gum disease prevalence in Alzheimer patients.

[kozak]

Toxic effect of an accidental intravascular injection? Who knows where that vessel went...

[elric]

I have a friend who suffered permanent nerve damage from a simple local dental anaesthetic. Given a large enough sample size, I guess unlikely things will crop up?

[rscho]

Peripheral nerve, yes. But not brain damage I guess? Yes, that's a possible and well-known complication, although quite rare.