Citation

Birch A, Walsh R, Devita D. West. J. Emerg. Med. 2013; 14(2): 147-148.

Affiliation

Madigan Army Medical Center, Department of Emergency Medicine, Tacoma, Washington.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, California Chapter of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine)

DOI

10.5811/westjem.2012.9.12646

PMID

23599852

Abstract

Since the first description of the Chance fracture in 1948, there have been few case reports of unique mechanisms causing this classical flexion-extension injury to the spine in motor vehicle accidents, sports injury, and falls. To our knowledge, this injury has not been reported from a fall with the mechanistic forces acting laterally on the spine and with spinal support in place. We present a 21-year-old male who slid down a flight of stairs onto his side wearing a heavy mountaineering style backpack, subsequently sustaining a Chance fracture of his first lumbar vertebrae.

Language: en