Commonest Types of Spinal Fractures
Click on the boxes to find out more about the type of spinal fracture:
| Compression | Burst | Chance (flexion/distraction) |
- Anterior part of vertebra breaks but the posterior aspect remains intact therefore only loses height anteriorly.
- Commonly occurs in patients with osteoporosis.
- Usually stable
- Vertebra loses height on both anterior and posterior aspects.
- Usual cause is falling from height and landing on feet.
- Usually stable
- Occurs when vertebrae are suddenly pulled away from each other in a flexion-distraction mechanism.
- Associated with high rates of mechanical instabilities and gastrointestinal injuries.
Images:
By BruceBlaus. Blausen.com staff (2014). "Medical gallery of Blausen Medical 2014". WikiJournal of Medicine 1 (2). DOI:10.15347/wjm/2014.010. ISSN 2002-4436. Also modified by Mikael Häggström, MD - Own work, CC BY 3.0By James Heilman, MD - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0
Radiopedia.org Burst Fracture, Case 3 CC BY-SA 3.0
