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Sequential traumatic cervical fractures after paragliding accidents – A case report and literature review

BACKGROUND: Sports related cervical spine trauma may range from minor injuries to severe life-threatening fractures with spinal cord injuries as following paragliding accidents. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 52-year-old male sustained C4-C5 and C6-C7 fracture-dislocations (American Spinal Injury Association-D...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Pereira, Catarina Silva, Lopes, António Lemos, Rodrigues-Pinto, Ricardo
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Scientific Scholar 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7911037/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33654550
http://dx.doi.org/10.25259/SNI_761_2020
Descripción
Sumario:BACKGROUND: Sports related cervical spine trauma may range from minor injuries to severe life-threatening fractures with spinal cord injuries as following paragliding accidents. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 52-year-old male sustained C4-C5 and C6-C7 fracture-dislocations (American Spinal Injury Association-D) attributed to a paragliding accident. He underwent a C5 corpectomy with C4-C6 anterior fusion. Three years later, he again sustained a paragliding accident, now resulting in a C6-C7 fracture-dislocation that required a C6-C7 anterior discectomy fusion. However, when this latter fusion “failed” 1 month later, he subsequently required a 360° fusion performed as a two-stage procedure. Further, 2 years later, he was involved in a motor vehicle accident resulting in an odontoid fracture. CONCLUSION: Unstable spinal fractures require surgical fixation to prevent neurological injury. Long cervical fusions create lever arms that increase the stress to adjacent levels, rendering them prone to future injury.