This article discusses a case of a 77-year-old patient who experienced low back pain after sustaining multiple landmine blasts during the Vietnam War. Over the years, the pain worsened and began to severely impact the patient’s quality of life. Neuroimaging revealed a lumbar facet fracture at the L5/6 level, caused by bone fragments impinging on the spinal canal. The patient underwent surgery to remove the fragments and underwent posterior instrumented fusion, resulting in significant symptom improvement. The article highlights the unique mechanism and treatment of lumbar facet fractures and expands on lumbosacral injuries associated with combat blast injuries
Summarised by Mr Mo Akmal – Lead Spinal Surgeon
The London Spine Unit : innovative spinal facility in UK
Published article
Lumbar facet fractures are rarely reported and have been linked to sports and spine surgery. We describe the case of a 77-year-old patient who sustained an injury from multiple landmine blasts during the Vietnam War. He had low back pain since that time, which was initially managed conservatively. However, the pain progressed over decades to severe neurogenic claudication that greatly restricted his quality of life. Neuroimaging revealed the presence of bone fragments impinging on the spinal…
Lumbar Decompression Surgery Expert. Best Spinal Surgeon UK
Mil Med. 2023 Sep 7:usad358. doi: 10.1093/milmed/usad358. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTLumbar facet fractures are rarely reported and have been linked to sports and spine surgery. We describe the case of a 77-year-old patient who sustained an injury from multiple landmine blasts during the Vietnam War. He had low back pain since that time, which was,
Mil Med. 2023 Sep 7:usad358. doi: 10.1093/milmed/usad358. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
Lumbar facet fractures are rarely reported and have been linked to sports and spine surgery. We describe the case of a 77-year-old patient who sustained an injury from multiple landmine blasts during the Vietnam War. He had low back pain since that time, which was initially managed conservatively. However, the pain progressed over decades to severe neurogenic claudication that greatly restricted his quality of life. Neuroimaging revealed the presence of bone fragments impinging on the spinal canal at the L5/6 level (transitional anatomy) that resulted from a comminuted fracture of the lumbar facet at the inferior articular process. We performed an L5/6 decompressive laminectomy, with removal of these fragments, and posterior instrumented fusion, with substantial improvement in symptoms. This case illustrates a unique mechanism of lumbar facet fracture and the biomechanic origination, natural history, and optimal treatment of this entity. We expand on the spectrum of lumbosacral injuries associated with the combat blast injury that have only increased in prevalence in recent conflicts.
PMID:37675860 | DOI:10.1093/milmed/usad358
The London Spine Unit : innovative spinal facility in UK
Read the original publication:
Landmine Injury Resulting in Comminuted Lumbar Facet Fracture as a Cause of Lumbar Stenosis and Spondylolisthesis