kirschner wire migration to the cervical spine: a complication of clavicular fixation in a child

We report a case of a broken K-wire migrating to the cervical spine from the right clavicle in a 9-year-old child. The initial diagnosis, fracture of the clavicle with an acromioclavicular joint dislocation, was treated by open reduction and K-wiring. One K-wire broke and migrated to the neck, posterolateral to the C6 vertebra. The K-wire was removed percutaneously under image intensif ication. Acromioclavicular joint dislocation in children is rare since the distal clavicle does not ossify until the age of 18 or 19 years meaning that almost all closed fractures of the clavicle in children can be treated non- operatively.