Severe pulmonary injury leading to death during thoracic rod removal: a case report
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Richard A Wawrose; William F. Donaldson; Jared A. Crasto
- Source
- European Spine Journal. 29:183-187
- Subject
- 030222 orthopedics
medicine.medical_specialty
business.industry
Medical record
medicine.medical_treatment
medicine.disease
Surgery
03 medical and health sciences
Pneumonia
0302 clinical medicine
Pneumothorax
Spinal fusion
Discectomy
Medicine
Orthopedics and Sports Medicine
Pulmonary Injury
Neurosurgery
business
Complication
030217 neurology & neurosurgery
- Language
- ISSN
- 1432-0932
0940-6719
Removal of hardware procedures following posterior spinal fusion is most commonly performed for hardware irritation without overt infection. It is imperative that surgeons realize that serious complications may arise from this procedure. The purpose of this report is to report a case of a pneumothorax that developed in a thoracolumbar removal of hardware case that resulted in a patient death. Retrospective review of a patient’s medical record and imaging. A 74-year-old patient with a history of T4-10 anterior discectomy and fusion with rib autograft and T4-L2 posterior fusion underwent a removal of hardware procedure for delayed surgical site infection. During the procedure, the tip of the bolt cutter jaw broke and entered the pulmonary cavity leading to a pneumothorax. The patient developed pneumonia 1 month postoperatively and passed away. This case report highlights one of the rare but potential complications of spinal removal of hardware surgery. It is essential that surgeons are aware of the possibility of pulmonary complications during thoracolumbar removal of hardware cases so that they may fully counsel their patients on the potential risks.