MySQL Does Not Support Placeholders for LIMIT and OFFSET in Prepared Statements

A developer building a paginated query in a Next.js service encountered a runtime error despite using validated integers and standard prepared statement practices. The root cause was a MySQL limitation: unlike PostgreSQL, MySQL does not allow placeholders for LIMIT and OFFSET clauses in prepared statements. The fix required directly interpolating the sanitized integer values into the query string rather than using parameter placeholders. While the workaround is straightforward, it highlights a subtle but important behavioral difference between SQL database engines. The incident serves as a reminder that SQL dialects are not interchangeable, and developers must account for database-specific constraints even when following otherwise sound coding practices.