Burst fracture of the lumbar vertebra due to a landmine injury: a case report

INTRODUCTION: The reason we report this case is that spine injuries may well occur due to landmines similar to other injuries like traumatic limb amputations and more over they may be overlooked. CASE PRESENTATION: The patient was 29-years-old Turkish male and was a member of the military. He detonated the landmine that caused his injuries while in a conflict zone. He had a right below knee and left above knee traumatic amputations. He had also mild intermittent pain in his lower back. There were no focal neurological findings such as weakness, altered sensibility, or alteration in the function of the bowel or bladder. Radiographs of the lumbar spine revealed an L2 burst fracture. Computed tomography scans and magnetic resonance imaging of the lumbar spine demonstrated a burst fracture of the L2 vertebrae and moderate compression in the anterior portion of the thecal sac due to the fracture fragment. Because of the stabile nature of the L2 burst fracture and lack of neurological disturbance, operative decompression, instrumentation and fusion was not performed. After healing of the stumps, the patient was mobilized with immediate prostheses and a thoracolumbosacral brace. CONCLUSION: Spine injuries should not be overlooked when evaluating patients after landmine explosions. After the patient has been stabilized, the secondary screening and radiographic evaluations should also comprise the thoracic, thoracolumbar and lumbar spine when treating patients after landmine injuries.