Introduction: Open clavicle fractures are rare, and there are no current reported cases in the literature of a missed open clavicle with resultant fracture-related infection and osteomyelitis.
Case report: We present a 65-year-old female with no reported medical history, who presented to our institution with left clavicular pain and wound drainage 8 days after she was struck by a motor vehicle in her home country of Guyana. She was found to have a missed open clavicle fracture with an associated severe infection. She was subsequently treated with irrigation, debridement, and distal clavicle excision.
Conclusion: We present this unique case with a potential procedure which could prove beneficial in cases of infection, trauma, or oncologic lesions in which the distal clavicle is deemed unsalvageable.
Keywords: Open clavicle fracture; bone infection; clavicular osteomyelitis; distal clavicle excision; missed open fracture; neglected fracture; osteomyelitis.
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