Titanium plate to fix crossed rib can cause cardiac tamponade: A cautionary note.

A 78-year-old woman diagnosed with an infected descending aortic aneurysm underwent graft replacement through a left rib-cross thoracotomy. She developed shock suddenly on the postoperative day 3 owing to cardiac tamponade. We performed emergent surgery and identified a small myocardial laceration in the left ventricular obtuse marginal area and a small perforation on the pericardium. One of the claws used to fix the titanium plate in the cross-rib repair caused this complication. This is a cautionary note regarding this type of titanium plate, which is used in many procedures.