Noncontiguous injuries of the spine.
Publication/Presentation Date
9-1-1992
Abstract
A total of 372 consecutive spinal injury patients were evaluated at the Regional Spinal Cord Injury Center of Delaware Valley. Of these, 39 patients (10.5%) were found to have noncontiguous spinal column injuries. Fewer than half of the patients in our series could be classified into previous classification systems (Calenoff, Gupta) of noncontiguous spinal fractures. Fifteen fractures in 12 patients were missed on presentation on admission and 25% of these patients had a progressive neurologic deficit as a result of improper initial immobilization. The location of missed fractures were found to be primarily at the extremes or junctures of the spine (i.e., cervicothoracic, thoracolumbar). Complete spinal roentgenographic evaluation is recommended in the workup of suspected spinal column injury patients, and additional imaging modalities (i.e., tomograms, computed tomography scans, and magnetic resonance imaging) may be necessary in those areas of the spine difficult to visualize.
Volume
5
Issue
3
First Page
320
Last Page
329
ISSN
0895-0385
Published In/Presented At
Vaccaro, A. R., An, H. S., Lin, S., Sun, S., Balderston, R. A., & Cotler, J. M. (1992). Noncontiguous injuries of the spine. Journal of spinal disorders, 5(3), 320–329. https://doi.org/10.1097/00002517-199209000-00010
Disciplines
Business Administration, Management, and Operations | Health and Medical Administration | Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods
PubMedID
1520991
Department(s)
Administration and Leadership
Document Type
Article