Case 15 Answer

A fun one huh? Did you see all the abnormalities?

Answer: 1) L2 Chance fracture, 2) fracture dislocation in the lower C-spine!

The one I was focusing on was the Chance fracture. Notice the horizontal type fracture that extends through the body and the posterior elements? Remember burst fractures just involve the body.

Remember that these are extreme injuries and you should take a good second look through the abdomen to look for associated organ (pancreas/duodenal) injuries. (The C-spine fracture-dislocation proves that!)

reference: http://www.learningradiology.com/notes/bonenotes/chancefxpage.htm  and http://radiopaedia.org/articles/chance-fracture