{"id":"3fab1fb3-62a9-4b98-aaa1-994773210865","slug":"broken-surgical-blade-retrieval-following-lumbar-discectomy-through-paravertebral-lateral-transpsoas-approach-a-case-report","title":"Broken surgical blade retrieval following lumbar discectomy through paravertebral/lateral transpsoas approach: A case report","authors":["Pablo Barbero-Aznarez","Carlos Bucheli-Peñafiel","Eduardo Olmos-Francisco","Asís Lorente-Muñoz","Severiano Cortés-Franco"],"abstract":"Background: There are rare reports of broken surgical blades occurring during lumbar discectomy, and even fewer that discuss their retrieval. Case Description: While a 54-year-old male was undergoing a lumbar discectomy, the knife blade was broken. As it was difficult to retrieve the fragment through the original incision, the patient was closed, and a postoperative angio-computerized tomography (CT) was obtained. When the CT angiogram (CTA) documented the retained fragment had become lodged near the iliac vein within the psoas muscle, a second operation for blade retrieval, consisting of a paravertebral, lateral transpsoas approach, was successfully performed. Conclusion: In some cases, it is difficult to retrieve a broken scalpel blade during the index surgery. When this occurs, we would recommend closing the patient, and obtaining a CTA to better document the location of the retained foreign body. Based upon these findings, a safer second stage procedure may be performed (e.g., as in this case using a paravertebral lateral transpsoas approach) to avoid undue sequelae/morbidity.","thumbnailUrl":"https://sni-digital-videos.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/3fab1fb3-62a9-4b98-aaa1-994773210865/featured/hero-1781562776403.png","publishDate":"2021-01-20T00:00:00.000Z","doi":"10.25259/SNI_880_2020","categories":["Spine","Case Report"],"fullTextUrl":"https://surgicalneurologyint.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/10534/SNI-12-25.pdf"}