Fracture of a sublaminar stainless steel cable in the upper cervical spine with neurological injury. Case report.

Sublaminar cables have been used to stabilize bone grafts for arthrodesis in the cervical spine in recent years. Previous accounts of their use have indicated no instances of breakage or neurological injury. This report is of a delayed cable fracture that resulted in penetration of the dura with neurological injury in a patient who had undergone atlantoaxial fusion for rheumatoid subluxation. The cable fracture occurred in the epidural space beneath the attempted arthrodesis and resulted in uncoiling of the cable, which penetrated spinal canal and caused a one-sided sensory deficit.