Non - Contiguous Multiple Spine Fracture

Kim, Youn Soo; Choi, Moon Gu; Lee, Kee Haeng; Kim, Hyoung Min; Cho, Yong Geun

Abstract

Incidence of non-contiguous multiple spine fracture was increased from 3.2%~4.5% at 1960th and 70th to 5.7% ~23.8% at 80th and 90th. But there is no reports in Korea which has high incidence of traffic and industrial accidents. In 345 consecutive patients with acute spine fracture, we found that 43 patients (12.5%) had multiple non-contiguous spine fractures. At the 43 patients studies 37 (87.4%) sustained fractures at 2 levels while 6 had more than 3 levels of injury, 26 were injured by fall from heights, 27 (62.8%) had 2.33 associated injuries on an average, and 12 (27.9%) had a neurologic deficit. There are five patterns account for 26 (50%) of the total number of patients. In 19 patients (44.2%), there was a mean 29.3 days delay (from 3 to 233 days) in diagnosis of the minor lesions. In 19 delay diagnosed minor lesions, it confirmed by bone scan in 12 patinets(63.6%). Two patients died within 24 hours after accident, and 41 patients (41 major and 50 minor fractures) were treated in our hospital. Among them, 21 (51.2%) needed modification of treatment by the presence of non-con- tiguous multiple spine fractures. According to above findings, the physician must be aware of the possible noncontiguous multiple spine fractures when examine and treat the patients with spine fracture.