Abstract :
Complications in the form of esophageal injury, tracheal injury, injury to carotids, implant failure, loosening of screws, etc do occur after anterior cervical surgeries.
Although intra-operative esophageal injuries are as such
rare, there have been few reports of delayed esophageal
perforation as well after anterior cervical surgeries. We
report a very rare case of migration of missing screw from
anterior cervical plate after anterior cervical corpectomy and
plating, which had ultimately migrated down to colon and
had to be removed via colonoscopy. Along with removal of
migrated screw from colon, revision of failed anterior
cervical surgery was done wherein plate and screws were
removed with mesh cage left in-situ as it was snug-fit while
pharyngeophageal perforation was explored and was found
to be spontaneously healing, with addition of posterior
Bohlman’s interspinous wiring for added stability.
Migration of screw from the anterior cervical plate into the
colon although very rare, should be always kept in mind and
its potentially serious complications. We also conclude that
particular attention should be given to elderly people with
poor bony quality who have high chances of implant failure, along with attention to proper cage size, screw position and proper locking of the screw to further lessen the chances of implant failure.
