Retrospective cohort study of 562 traumatic spine fracture patients at a Level 1 trauma center (1996–2000), asking how mechanism of injury, age, and gender correlate with AO fracture type, fracture location, associated injuries, and neurological deficit.
When your trauma patient has a multilevel or Type C spine fracture, assume an associated injury until proven otherwise — nearly every multilevel fracture has one.
Traffic accident mechanism should push your workup toward the cervical and thoracic spine, while any fall pattern should prompt thoracolumbar imaging; the AO fracture type you assign on initial CT directly predicts neurological risk and the yield of a head-to-toe associated injury search.
Retrospective cohort study of 562 traumatic spine fracture patients at a Level 1 trauma center (1996–2000), asking how mechanism of injury, age, and gender correlate with AO fracture type, fracture location, associated injuries, and neurological deficit.
When your trauma patient has a multilevel or Type C spine fracture, assume an associated injury until proven otherwise — nearly every multilevel fracture has one.
Traffic accident mechanism should push your workup toward the cervical and thoracic spine, while any fall pattern should prompt thoracolumbar imaging; the AO fracture type you assign on initial CT directly predicts neurological risk and the yield of a head-to-toe associated injury search.