Flexion-distraction Injury in Cervico-thoracic Junction - A Case Report -

Ye-Soo Park; Kang-Wook Kim; Ki-Chul Park

doi:10.7469/JKSS.2006.13.3.215

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Park, Kim, and Park: Flexion-distraction Injury in Cervico-thoracic Junction - A Case Report -

Case Report

Journal of Korean Spine Surg 2006;13(3):215-218.

Published online: 18 February 2006

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7469/JKSS.2006.13.3.215

Flexion-distraction Injury in Cervico-thoracic Junction - A Case Report -

Ye-Soo Park, M.D., Kang-Wook Kim, M.D., Ki-Chul Park, M.D.

Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Guri, Korea

Address reprint requests to Ki-Chul Park, M.D. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Guri Hospital, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Guri city, Kyunggi-do, 471-701, Korea Tel: 82-31-560-2316, Fax: 82-31-557-8781, E-mail: kcpark@hanyang.ac.kr

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Injuries at the cervico-thoracic junction can be difficult to diagnose (with an incidence as high as 9% of all spinal injuries) and to stabilize, because of anatomic complexities. We report a case with that was treated with a lateral mass screw and transpedicular screw-rod fixation for a flexion-distraction injury at the cervico-thoracic junction and we present a review of the literature.

Keywords: Cervico-thoracic junction, Flexion-distraction injury

REFERENCES

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Fig. 1.

(A-C) Anterior-posterior roentgenogram of cervico-thoracic spine shows abnormal alignment of spinous process (A). CT scan shows anterior column collapse at T4,5 ver-tebral bodies and multiple spinous process fractures at C6 to T4 with widening of inter-laminar space between T1-2 and T3-4 (B). MRI shows no cord compressive lesion but interspinous ligament injury between C6 and T4 vertebra (C). It is diagnosed flexion dis-traction injury in cervico-thoracic junction

Fig. 2.

Postoperative 3D-CT scan shows good alignment of cervico-thoracic spines with good position of lateral mass screws at cervical spines and pedicle screws at thoracic spines.

Fig. 3.

With one year follow up, postoperative roentgenogram shows no breakage of instrument and change in alignment of cervico-thoracic spine.

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