title: Passage of an Anterior Odontoid Screw through Gastrointestinal Tract.
abstract: Purpose. Anterior screw fixation has become a popular surgical treatment method for instable odontoid fractures. Screw loosening and migration are a rare, severe complication following anterior odontoid fixation, which can lead to esophagus perforation and requires revision operation.Methods. We report a case of screw loosening and migration after anterior odontoid fixation, which perforated the esophagus and was excreted without complications in a 78-year-old male patient.Results. A ventral dislocated anterior screw perforated through the esophagus after eight years after implantation and was excreted through the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. At a 6-month follow-up after the event the patient was asymptomatic.Conclusion. Extrusion via the GI tract is not safe enough to be considered as a treatment option for loosened screws. Some improvements could be implemented to prevent such an incident. Furthermore, this case is a fine example that recent preoperative imaging is mandatory before revision surgery for screw loosening.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Leitner
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: C I
authors.initials: CI
authors.lastname: Brückmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Gilg
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bratschitsch
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: P
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1767-555X
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sadoghi
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: A
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-2598-2325
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Leithner
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Radl