ABSTRACT

We present an unusual complication following a vertebroplasty performed under local anaesthesia and sedation in an osteoporotic patient with a lumbar burst fracture: urinary incontinence. Computed tomography showed retropulsion of the posterior wall of the fracture due to the effect of the cement in a patient who developed postoperative urinary incontinence immediately after a percutaneous vertebroplasty under local anaesthesia. An emergency laminectomy, with reduction of the retropulsed fragment, and instrumentation with a pedicle screw were performed. The urinary incontinence resolved within 24 hours after the second procedure. Surgeons should be aware of the risk of retropulsion in burst fractures, which might result in a neurogenic bladder. In such cases, urgent decompression is a good treatment option.