Study design: A retrospective case report.
Objective: The objective of the present article is to report an unusual complication of spinal instrumentation.
Summary of background data: Migration of spinal implants to distant site is quite unusual, and literature till date has only 2 case reports. For the first time, we are reporting a case of anterior spinal rod migration from the dorsolumbar spine to the knee joint in a young male patient after 4 years of its fixation following spinal injury.
Methods: A 38-year-old man presented with pain, swelling, and restriction of movement of left knee joint. On clinical examination, a hard movable rod was palpable which was suspected to be a metallic foreign body initially. The detailed history of the patient revealed anterior spinal fixation following posttraumatic injury of L1 vertebra 4 years back. Radiograph showed a metallic rod lying around the knee joint with absence of anterior rod of dorsolumbar spine. The suspicion of migration of the rod was confirmed by surgical exploration.
Results: After 1 week of removal of the rod, patient became totally asymptomatic with normal full range of movement of the knee joint.
Conclusion: Though rare, migration of implants from the spine to the distant sites is always a possibility and may have severe complications too. We stress the need of long-term follow-up with clinical examination and radiographs to prevent missing such a complication.