Can Sternal Wires Break?

Wires are passed around or through the sternum and tightened through a twisting motion to secure the sternum and facilitate healing. Generally these wires are left in place because they are rarely bothersome. Occasionally wires can fracture, although typically the broken wire remains fixed and is not problematic.

What happens if sternal wires break?

We present a rare complication of median sternotomy in which a segment of fractured sternal wire punctured the heart, embolized to the right lung, and eroded into a bronchus causing massive hemoptysis.

Can sternal wires cause pain?

Sternal wires can provoke damage of the anterior rami of the intercostal nerves during insertion at the sternal margin of the intercostal spaces Defalque and Bromley suggest that results in a neuralgia associated with scar-entrapped neuromas (16).