Multiple Non-contiguous Spine Fractures with Concomitant Injuries - A Case Report -

Soo Uk Chae; Yeung Jin Kim; Jung Hwan Yang; Ji Wan Lee; Jae In Park

doi:10.12671/jkfs.2011.24.3.267

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Chae, Kim, Yang, Lee, and Park: Multiple Non-contiguous Spine Fractures with Concomitant Injuries - A Case Report -

Case Report

Journal of the Korean Fracture Society

Journal of the Korean Fracture Society 2011; 24(3): 267-270.

Published online: 15 July 2011

DOI: https://doi.org/10.12671/jkfs.2011.24.3.267

Multiple Non-contiguous Spine Fractures with Concomitant Injuries - A Case Report -

Soo Uk Chae, M.D., Yeung Jin Kim, M.D., Jung Hwan Yang, M.D., Ji Wan Lee, M.D., Jae In Park, M.D.

Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, School of Medicine, Wonkwang University, Iksan, Korea.

Address reprint requests to: Ji Wan Lee, M.D. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, School of Medicine, Wonkwang University, 344-1, Shinyong-dong, Iksan 570-711, Korea. Tel: 82-63-472-5100, Fax: 82-63-472-5688, oschae@naver.com

Received 4 February 2010 Revised 18 April 2011 Accepted 4 May 2011

(open-access):

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

Multiple non-contiguous spinal fracture is a special type of multi-level spinal injury, which is rare but most frequently occur in motor vehicle accident or a falling from a height. We report five patients of multiple non-contiguous spinal fractures. All patients underwent segmental pedicle screws fixation without fusion for preserving facet joints and minimizing blood loss and operation time. We performed necessary operation for any concomitant injuries at the same day.

Keywords: Multiple non-contiguous spine fractures, Concomitant injury

Figures and Tables

Fig. 1

52-years old male who fell off ladder had T12, L2 & L4 spine fractures and concomitant distal radius and calcaneal fractures underwent operation on the day of the injury.

(A) Plain L-spine lateral image shows L2 and L4 bursting fracture and subluxation of L4/5 facet joint (black arrow).

(B) Axial CT images of L2 and L4 shows minimal invasion of spinal fracture fragment in vertebral canal. There were no neurologic abnormalities.

(C) Sagittal T1-weighted images of lumbar spine shows signal change and cortical irregularity.

(D) Postoperative sagittal CT image shows short segment fixation of the L3-5. T12 vertebral body fracture (white arrow) was newly found, which was not visible in preoperative CT scans.

Fig. 2

(A) Axial and sagittal CT images shows T12 and L4 vertebral body fractures of 38-years old female who fell from a 6 m height.

(B) Postoperative T-L spine X-ray shows short segmental fixation of L3-5 without bone graft.

(C) Axial and sagittal CT images shows L1 and L4 vertebral body fractures of 39-years old female who fell from a 3m height.

(D) Postoperative T-L spine X-ray shows short segmental fixation of L3-5 without bone graft.

Fig. 3

(A) Preoperative L-spine X-ray shows T12, L4, and sacrum fractures that T12, L4 was diagnosed major fractures of 24-years old female who fell from a 4 m height.

(B) Postoperative L spine X-ray shows pedicular screw fixation on the upper and lower vertebrae of T12 and L4 without bone graft.

Table 1

Summary of cases

^*Death after POD 6 months, ^†Fx: fracture, IF: internal fixation, EF: external fixation.

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