Extension-distraction injuries caused by hyperextension of the spine typically occur in the cervical region, as seen in “whiplash” injuries. This type of injury is rare in the thoracolumbar spine, comprising less than 3% of fractures in this region . Denis and Burkus described it as “lumberjack paraplegia” as most patients with this injury were struck in the back by a falling tree . Rare instan...

We report the first case of a combined bony and soft tissue Chance fracture in the thoracic spine, with late presenting displacement following conservative management. Chance fractures are flexion-distraction injuries to the spine. They consist of disruption and longitudinal separation of the posterior elements of the vertebra, with the fracture extending through the pedicles and into the verte...

A 10-year-old girl sustained a ureteropelvic junction disruption and distal ureter injury associated with the Chance fracture following a traffic accident. She was sitting on the rear seat of a car wearing a lap belt. Extensive small bowel mesenteric trauma was noted. Radiography revealed a left haemothorax with mediastinal shift and an unstable flexion-distraction vertebral fracture at L2 (Cha...

We report a rare case of an unstable flexion-distraction spine fracture with ligament involvement that occurred during a professional female soccer game. There were no neurological déficit. The patient had a painful midline gap which suggested ligamentar injury that was not immediately recognized. Despite that, proper immobilization and referral to hospital for further evaluation avoided additi...

Flexion-distraction injuries of the upper lumbar spine typically occur in case of a head-on motor vehicle collision, while wearing a lap seat belt without shoulder strap. According to Smith and Kaufer the axis of flexion is situated at the point of contact of the belt with the abdominal wall. This results in a horizontal separation of the anterior, middle and posterior columns. The lesion is ca...

Patient-to-patient differences should be accounted for in both clinical evaluations and computational models of knee laxity. Accordingly, the objectives were to determine how variable the laxities are between knees by determining the range of the internal-external (I-E), varus-valgus (V-V), anterior-posterior (A-P), and compression-distraction (C-D) limits of passive motion, and how related the...

STUDY DESIGN Biomechanical study. OBJECTIVE Recently, a posterior concave periapical distraction device for fusionless scoliosis correction was introduced. The goal of this study was to quantify the effect of the periapical distraction device on spinal range of motion (ROM) in comparison with traditional rigid pedicle screw-rod instrumentation. METHODS Using a spinal motion simulator, 6 hum...

An intramedullary device has some advantages over external fixation in callus distraction for bone defect reconstruction. There are difficulties controlling motorized intramedullary devices and monitoring the distraction rate which may lead to poor results. The aim of this study was to design a fully implantable and non-motorized simple distraction nail for the treatment of bone defects. The fu...

The upper cervical spine comprising the base of the skull, first cervical vertebra (C1) and second cervical vertebra (C2) is one of the most complex joints in the human spine. In low severity automotive crash scenarios, ligament distraction has been implicated as a source of whiplash pain, while at higher impact severities vertebral fracture and distraction can lead to ser...