Tsai Chun-Hao, Hsu Horng-Chaung, Huan Chun-Yin, Chen Hsien-Te, Fong Yi-Chin
Department of Orthopedics, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan, R.O.C.
J Chin Med Assoc. 2009 Jan;72(1):48-51. doi: 10.1016/S1726-4901(09)70021-8.
We report a 49-year-old man who had undergone osteosynthesis to treat right distal clavicular fracture with a threaded wire (Schanz screw). The wire could not be removed due to its firm fixation within the bone. Eight years later, migration of the broken wire to the right 7th cervical vertebra punctured the lamina, with no spinal cord injury noted. The threaded wire was extracted from the C7 lamina emergently. No complication occurred after pin removal or during the 1-year postoperative follow-up.
