RESEARCH ARTICLE
The Unusual Chance Fracture: Case Report & Literature Review
O Karargyris, LG Morassi, C Zafeiris, DS Evangelopoulos*, SG Pneumaticos
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2013Volume: 7
First Page: 301
Last Page: 303
Publisher ID: TOORTHJ-7-301
DOI: 10.2174/1874325001307010301
Article History:
Received Date: 9/3/2013Revision Received Date: 3/6/2013
Acceptance Date: 9/6/2013
Electronic publication date: 19/8/2013
Collection year: 2013

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/) which permits unrestrictive use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
The Chance fracture represents a spinal lesion caused by a flexion-distraction injury pattern. We describe a rare case of a male driver admitted at the Emergencies of our Institution, level A Trauma center. The was involved in an automobile accident without wearing a seatbelt. Radiological findings of plain radiography and computed tomography (CT) demonstrated a horizontal fracture extending across the vertebral body to the posterior elements with loss of vertebral height at the anterior aspect of T12. Based on these findings, the diagnosis of a T12 Chance fracture was established. The patient was treated conservatively with a thoracolumbar orthosis, without any subsequent disabilities. Although Chance fractures are rare lesions, they should always be considered in spinal injuries, even in cases of motor-vehicle accidents where no seatbelt is used.