Mediastinal Migration of Standalone Cage-Plate Construct Following Multilevel Anterior Cervical Diskectomy and Fusion

Esophageal injury following anterior cervical spine surgery is a rare complication. In this interesting report, we present a 60-year-old male who presented with delayed dysphagia and intermittent breathing difficulty 20 months after multilevel anterior cervical diskectomy and fusion. Imaging revealed mediastinal migration of a standalone cage-plate construct near the adventitia of aortic arch along the fluid collection extending from upper cervical to the mediastinum. He underwent immediate washout, removal of loose hardware, and placement of a lower cervical esophageal stent and a gastrostomy tube. The patient is recovering well at last follow-up. This is the first report of delayed mediastinal migration of standalone cage-plate construct, to the best of our knowledge.