Fat embolism syndrome

Fat Embolism Syndrome (FES)

• potentially fatal complication of long bone fractures
  
• classically described as the triad of hypoxia, petechiae, and neurological impairment
  
• characterized by bone marrow fat entering the systemic circulation and the individual's inflammatory response to it
  • response can result in dysfunction of several organs, most importantly the lungs, brain, and skin
    
    
• although fat embolization occurs in the majority of patients with long bone fractures or during orthopaedic procedures, clinical signs and symptoms occur in only 1-10% of these patients
  • most of the reported cases occurred in patients with multiple traumatic injuries that resulted in the systemic inflammatory response syndrome, which causes multi-organ damage via a reaction to free fatty acids
  • non-traumatic causes of FES
    • non-traumatic conditions are very uncommon causes of FES; they are acute pancreatitis, fatty liver, corticosteroid therapy, lymphography, fat emulsion infusion and haemoglobinopathies

Reference:

1. Rothberg D. Fat Embolism and Fat Embolism Syndrome. J Am Acad Orthop Surg. 2019 Apr 15;27(8)