Migration of a Kirschner wire into the lung with shoulder dislocation

Description

A 69-year-old female was presented with right shoulder pain due to chronic anterior shoulder dislocation. She underwent an operation for arthroscopic rotator cuff repair (figure 1). Rotator cuff repair was not possible due to massive rotator cuff tears and the glenohumeral joint was not stable. After reduction, therefore, temporary fixation of the glenohumeral joint was performed with two 3.0 mm Kirschner wires (K-wires) (figure 2). One wire was removed due to superficial infection 17 days after the surgery. As a result, the humeral head was dislocated, and the remaining wire migrated into her lung (figure 3). Chest CT showed pulmonary contusion without evidence of pneumothorax (figure 4). Fourteen days later, the K-wire was removed carefully with fluoroscopic guidance to prevent haemorrhage and pneumothorax. Forty-two months postoperatively, the humeral head remained dislocated with modest relief of joint pain. Chest function is normal without...

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