Exposure of Pedicle Screws due to Chronic Vertebral Erosion by Tracheostomy Tube Cuff Balloon

Abstract

Case: We report a patient with permanent tracheostomy in the context of muscular dystrophy presented for pneumonia.On bronchoscopy, a pedicle screw was seen penetrating the trachea. Computed tomography revealed significant anterior erosion of the T1-T3 vertebrae due to chronic pressure injury from the tracheostomy cuff, exposing pedicle screws implanted >10 years earlier. The patient was fitted for a custom low-pressure cuff. No further sequelae developed for 4 months.Disclosure: The Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest forms are provided with the online version of the article (http://links.lww.com/JBJSCC/B902).