Peripheral Arterial Embolization of Cement during Revision Spine Surgery

Cement embolism of the pulmonary arteries is a well-known complication of percutaneous vertebroplasty as well as orthopedic procedures involving instrumentation of the medullary canal. A few cases of paradoxical cement embolism have also been described. Herein, we report a case of cortical bone void filler embolism to the infragenicular arteries during revision spine surgery. The cement had entered the aorta via the left L3 lumbar artery. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of embolism due to direct arterial migration of cement during an orthopedic procedure.