A forty-seven-year-old woman presented with recurrent urinary tract infections eleven years after open fixation of a pelvic ring injury. Cystoscopy revealed that the pelvic reconstruction plate had eroded into the bladder, likely the source of the recurrent infections. Following removal of the involved pelvic hardware and repair of the bladder, the patient had no further urinary tract infections.
Operative fixation of osseous pelvic injuries places metal implants in proximity to the bladder. Late erosion of hardware into the bladder can occur. A low threshold for urological work-up should be maintained for recurrent genitourinary symptoms in these patients.
JBJS case connector. 0000 Jan [Epub]
Jacob Babu, Kalpit N Shah, P Kaveh Mansuripur, Roman Hayda
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, 593 Eddy Street, Providence, RI 02903., 2 Dudley Street #200, Providence, RI 02905.