Fat embolism syndrome in a child with dystonia musculorum deformans

Abstract

A 16-year-old boy with dystonia musculorum deformans underwent an operation for removal of femoral implants and excision of the prominence at the greater trochanter of the left hip. He was found to have fat embolism syndrome at postoperative day 1 as evidenced by confusion, respiratory symptoms, chest radiograph changes, raised erythrocyte sedimentation rate, thrombocytopenia and fat in the urine and sputum.

Fat embolism syndrome in a child triggered by surgical tourniquet release: A case report

“…Sir—Fat embolism syndrome is a rare but fatal complication of fat emboli in microcirculation, which commonly results after orthopedic trauma. The symptoms usually appear 12–48 hour after the trigger event . Few cases of fat embolism syndrome in children aged less than 10 years have been reported .…”