• Kyung Y Yoo, Seong W Jeong, Woong Yoon, and JongUn Lee.
• Department of Anesthesiology, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, South Korea.
• Spine. 2004 Jul 15;29(14):E294-7.

Study DesignA case of acute respiratory distress syndrome following percutaneous vertebroplasty is described.ObjectiveTo alert clinicians to the potential occurrence of acute respiratory distress syndrome following use of polymethylmethacrylate bone cement.Summary Of Background DataNoncardiogenic pulmonary edema has not been reported following intravertebral injection of polymethylmethacrylate.MethodsA 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.ResultsOn 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.ConclusionThis case illustrates that clinicians must be aware of the potential occurrence of acute respiratory distress syndrome in patients who received percutaneous vertebroplasty.

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