Acute pancreatitis following major spinal surgery is a rare potential complication. Several mechanisms such as positioning, intraoperative haemodynamic instability, mechanical compression and prolonged surgery can contribute to it. This should be suspected in a patient presenting with gastrointestinal symptoms, signs and raised serum amylase or lipase. Our case report is of a young patient with low BMI developing postoperative acute pancreatitis after single stage correction of right thoracic idiopathic scoliosis at National Hospital of Sri Lanka. Early identification of complications plays a key role in preventing severe morbidity after scoliosis surgery. When symptoms and signs are suggestive of abdominal complications, biochemical markers have to be analyzed for prompt diagnosis. Multidisciplinary approach and imaging are further steps in the differential diagnosis and management of this rare complication.

Inadvertent line insertion into the subclavian artery is an uncommon complication of subclavian venous catheterisation and its timely recognition is vital to minimise the risk of harm to the patient. We describe a patient who had an inadvertent subclavian arterial cannulation which was recognised within the first hour of insertion and subsequently removed without complications.

We herein report a case of an unusual tracheal foreign body in a 42-year-old patient who after having undergone surgery for a tongue base malignancy presented following discharge with progressively worsened intractable cough. A chest x ray revealed a foreign body (FB) extending from glottis through the trachea up to the right bronchi. Awake fiberoptic bronchoscopic FB removal was done and the tube was recovered as a whole delivered through the oral cavity. It was 2/3 rd the length of an airway exchanger catheter (AEC) used during the trial of extubation.