ABSTRACT

While the risks of pedicle screw insertion in the management of a wide variety of spinal disorders are well established, there is a paucity of reports on complications associated with implant removal after short-segmented spinal fusion. We report two rare cases of acute osteoporotic vertebral body fractures that occurred within fused segments due to the pedicle screw removal in two female patients previously treated for the degenerative spinal disorders. One patient had experienced the critical motional pain at low back and motor weakness of left leg, and the other patient had experienced the severe low back pain after spinal fusion surgery at the adjacent segment due to osteoporotic vertebral body fracture within fused segments. Patients must be thoroughly informed of potential risks after the spinal implant removal, particularly in cases of osteoporosis. Vertebral body fracture in solid fused segments may occur as one of the complications of the previous implant removal. If the previous spinal implant removal would be needed, surgeons should be careful about this critical complication.