• S Fujibayashi, J Shikata, N Kamiya, and C Tanaka.
• Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Kyoto City Hospital, Higashitakada-cho, Mibu, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan. shfuji@kuhp.kyoto-u.ac.jp
• Spine. 2000 Sep 1; 25 (17): 2258-61.

Study DesignA case report of an anterior cervical plate and screws that disappeared completely.ObjectivesTo present a case of a missing anterior cervical plate and screws, this being quite a rare complication of a cervical implant.Summary Of Background DataNo mention of this complication was found in the literature.MethodsMethods in the literature and clinical presentation are reviewed.ResultsDislodgment of an anterior cervical plate occurred in association with an methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection. Three months later the implants had disappeared, presumably passing without notice through the gastrointestinal tract. Whole body fluoroscopy could not identify any residual plate or screws. No esophageal fistula could be detected by barium meal swallow study.ConclusionsThe plate and screws became dislodged, eroded through the posterior wall of the esophagus, then traversed the limit of the gastrointestinal tract, passing with feces without significant morbidity. Whether the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection contributed to this unique circumstance or is coincidentally related to it remained a matter of speculation.

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