Study design: A case of acute respiratory distress syndrome following percutaneous vertebroplasty is described.
Objective: To alert clinicians to the potential occurrence of acute respiratory distress syndrome following use of polymethylmethacrylate bone cement.
Summary of background data: Noncardiogenic pulmonary edema has not been reported following intravertebral injection of polymethylmethacrylate.
Methods: A 68-year-old woman underwent percutaneous vertebroplasty for a painful L5 compression fracture under local anesthesia. A contralateral transpedicular approach was made to inject polymethylmethacrylate.
Results: On the third postoperative day, she developed arthralgia, myalgia, fever, and frequent coughing. Chest radiography revealed bilateral, multifocal, patchy consolidations, suggestive of acute respiratory distress syndrome, and a 5-cm-long tubular radiopacity in the right pulmonary artery. She died 20 days after the vertebroplasty.
Conclusion: This case illustrates that clinicians must be aware of the potential occurrence of acute respiratory distress syndrome in patients who received percutaneous vertebroplasty.