Servicio Regional de Neurocirugía, Hospital `Miguel Servet', Zaragoza, España

^aAuthor for correspondence

A case of spinal cord injury caused by delayed migration of a Kirschner wire is reported. Some cases of distant injuries caused by bone wires, and acupuncture needles have been published, but this is the first reported case of delayed thoracic spinal cord damage caused by the migration of a clavicular wire. A 22-year-old male patient was admitted with a clinical picture of spinal shock after performing physiotherapeutic exercises. Two months prior to this, the patient had undergone surgical treatment for a clavicular fracture in a different clinical center. Imaging showed a clavicular wire had migrated into the spinal canal. An early prescription of a spinal cord methyl-prednisolone protective treatment (NASCIS II), the surgical extraction of the foreign body and the rehabilitation exercises were the keys to a quick recovery.

clavicle fracture; bone wire; spinal cord injury; Brown-Sequard Syndrome