A Nearly Lethal Screw: An Unusual Cause of Recurrent Bradycardia and Asystole Episodes after Fixation of the Cervical Spine
Joint Authors
Shelef, Ilan
Roy-Shapira, Aviel
Binyamin, Yair
Koyfman, Leonid
Brotfain, Evgeni
Klein, Moti
Frenkel, Amit
Source
Issue
Vol. 2017, Issue 2017 (31 Dec. 2017), pp.1-3, 3 p.
Publisher
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
Publication Date
2017-10-12
Country of Publication
Egypt
No. of Pages
3
Main Subjects
Abstract EN
We present a case of a 51-year-old man who was injured in a bicycle accident.
His main injury was an unstable fracture of the cervical and thoracic vertebral column.
Several hours after his arrival to the hospital the patient underwent open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) of the cervical and thoracic spine.
The patient was hospitalized in our critical care unit for 99 days.
During this time patient had several episodes of severe bradycardia and asystole; some were short with spontaneous return to sinus and some required pharmacological treatment and even Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR).
Initially, these episodes were attributed to the high cervical spine injury, but, later on, CT scan suggested that a fixation screw abutted on the esophagus and activated the vagus nerve by direct pressure.
After repositioning of the cervical fixation, the bradycardia and asystole episodes were no longer observed and the patient was released to a rehabilitation ward.
This case is presented in order to alert practitioners to the possibility that, after operative fixation of cervical spine injuries, recurrent episodes of bradyarrhythmia can be caused by incorrect placement of the fixation screws and might be confused with the natural history of the high cervical cord injury.
American Psychological Association (APA)
Frenkel, Amit& Binyamin, Yair& Brotfain, Evgeni& Koyfman, Leonid& Roy-Shapira, Aviel& Shelef, Ilan…[et al.]. 2017. A Nearly Lethal Screw: An Unusual Cause of Recurrent Bradycardia and Asystole Episodes after Fixation of the Cervical Spine. Case Reports in Critical Care،Vol. 2017, no. 2017, pp.1-3.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-1144348
Modern Language Association (MLA)
Frenkel, Amit…[et al.]. A Nearly Lethal Screw: An Unusual Cause of Recurrent Bradycardia and Asystole Episodes after Fixation of the Cervical Spine. Case Reports in Critical Care No. 2017 (2017), pp.1-3.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-1144348
American Medical Association (AMA)
Frenkel, Amit& Binyamin, Yair& Brotfain, Evgeni& Koyfman, Leonid& Roy-Shapira, Aviel& Shelef, Ilan…[et al.]. A Nearly Lethal Screw: An Unusual Cause of Recurrent Bradycardia and Asystole Episodes after Fixation of the Cervical Spine. Case Reports in Critical Care. 2017. Vol. 2017, no. 2017, pp.1-3.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-1144348
Data Type
Journal Articles
Language
English
Notes
Includes bibliographical references
Record ID
BIM-1144348