The hypermobility of the pediatric bony cervical spine allows deformation of the musculoskeletal structures beyond physiologic extremes, permitting direct trauma or ischemic injury of the spinal cord followed by spontaneous reduction of the bony spine. This predisposes to a spinal cord injury without radiological abnormality (SCIWORA) [1] . SCIWORA has positive neurologic Received: August 5, 20...

With the high level of crime in the Western Cape, the state hospitals have witnessed a tremendous increase in the incidence of gunshot injuries. The Groote Schuur Trauma Unit sees between 70 and 120 gunshot injuries a month. Many of these involve the musculoskeletal system, and some the spine. This is in stark contrast to the European experience. Of 34 903 trauma cases seen in Scotland over 28 ...

PURPOSE To evaluate the appearance, morphology, and treatment of occipital condyle fractures (OCF). METHODS Cases were collected by a retrospective and prospective analysis of teaching files and case logs. Patients' charts, when available, were reviewed for age, sex, mode of injury, physical examination, Glascow Coma Scale score, and associated injuries. Plain films and CT images were reviewe...

Postoperative epidural fibrosis (EF) is still a major limitation to the success of spine surgery. Fibrotic adhesions in space, initiated via local trauma and inflammation, can induce difficult-to-treat pain constitute main cause failed back surgery syndrome, which not uncommonly requires operative revision.

Injured motorcyclists may have a damaged and unstable cervical spine (C-spine). This paper looks at whether a helmet can be safely removed, how and when should this be done? The literature is reviewed and the recommendations of the Trauma Working party of the Joint Colleges Ambulance Liaison Committee are presented.

STUDY DESIGN Histologic and ultrastructural study of disc cell death after traumatic injury to the human cervical spine and postmortem (p-m) in the porcine cervical spine. OBJECTIVE To determine the changes in disc cell morphology, viability, and manner of cell death after trauma in human discs and p-m in porcine discs. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA Similarities in the morphology of human and ...

Spine surgery is a continuously evolving field. Traditional posterior midline approaches to the lumbar spine are associated with muscle injury. Common mechanisms of injury include ischemia, denervation, and mechanical disruption of tendinous attachments of lumbar muscles. Muscle injury may be documented with chemical markers (creatinine kinase, aldolase, proinflammatory cytokines), by imaging s...

abstract   objective: to evaluate and review our experience with pediatric spinal injuries and factors affecting outcome, the authors conducted a retrospective clinical study of 43 cases (32 boys, 11 girls) of pediatric spine injuries treated during four years (january 1999 to december 2003).   methods: forty-three children with spinal injuries were studied retrospectively over four years and w...

Thoracolumbar spine trauma typically occurs when high-energy forces damage bony and ligamentous spinal structures and, in severe cases, the spinal cord. These injuries often cause considerable neurological deficits as a result of the damage. Computed tomography (CT) is the imaging method of choice for determining injury severity in most victims of multiple trauma. In addition to describing vari...

plastic formation of heterotopic bone in the skeletal muscle (1-5). Although myositis ossificans can occur anywhere in the body following trauma, it is predominantly localized to high-risk sites of injury, such as large muscles of the extremities (2-4). Most lesions are related to direct major trauma or repeated minor injuries. No history of trauma is present in approximately 40% of patients (2...