What Is Lockjaw?
Reviewed: Dr. Gromatzky
7. Complications
The complications of lockjaw can be very severe, severe enough to result in a fatality in many cases. In some cases, the spasms can be so persistent and violent that some of the patient’s bones are broken. This often means the bones in the spine as the spasms forced the patient’s whole body to contort.
Some patients might also experience a pulmonary embolism. This happens when blood clots develop elsewhere, then become dislodged and travel to the pulmonary artery – thus blocking the artery. Most fatalities occur because the spasms impede the patient’s ability to breathe. Some patients will die of pneumonia instead.
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