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Trauma
intermediate
X-Type

Chance Fractures - Mechanism and Management

Spinal Trauma

A 28-year-old woman is brought to the emergency department after a high-speed motor vehicle collision. She was a restrained back-seat passenger wearing a lap-only seatbelt. She complains of severe mid-back pain and abdominal pain. Examination reveals a horizontal bruise across her abdomen ("seatbelt sign"). CT demonstrates a horizontal fracture through the L1 vertebral body extending through both pedicles and spinous process. Regarding Chance fractures:

Mark each as TRUE or FALSE

A

The Chance fracture is a flexion-distraction injury caused by sudden deceleration with a lap-only se...

B

Approximately 50% of Chance fractures are associated with intra-abdominal injuries (hollow viscus pe...

C

Purely bony Chance fractures have worse healing rates than ligamentous injuries; distraction instrum...

D

Bony Chance fractures (Denis Type A) have healing rates of 90-95% with hyperextension bracing and ca...

E

When surgical fixation is required, short-segment posterior compression instrumentation is the prefe...

Answer the questions to see explanations

Click T (True) or F (False) for each option