Iatrogenic esophageal rupture due to anterior cervical spine surgery

Anterior cervical corpectomy from C2-T1 is being used to decompress and reconstruct the cervical spine for a wide variety of degenerative disorders, trauma, neoplasms, and infectious disorders or as a salvage surgery for correcting kyphotic deformities and vertebral collapse. The technique minimally disrupts normal cervical muscles and is associated with a low risk of injuring surrounding structures such as esophagus. A case of an iatrogenic esophageal wall perforation subsequent to cervical corpectomy through an anterior approach along with a review of the literature and an algorithm of treatment are presented.