EANS Case of the Month: September 2015
(by Christian Blume, Christian Andreas Müller, Hans Clusmann, Department of Neurosurgery, RWTH Aachen University Hospital, Aachen, Germany)


A 25-year old man presented after a motorbike accident in our emergency room. Patient had a Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) of 15 and was vitally stable. First clinical examination in the emergency room showed a paraplegia of the legs and complete anaesthesia below and including level L1 and the complete perineal region on both sides (ASIA A).

Polytrauma computed tomography was performed and showed multiple rib fractures, lung contusions on both sides, and this dislocated thoracolumbar fracture as shown in the CT images below.

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* 1. How should one classify this injury according to the new AOSpine - Thoracolumbar Spine Injury Classification System? (Vaccaro AR et al., Spine 38: 2028-2037, 2013): This classification includes the level of injury, the type of fracture, and the patient’s neurological status.

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