Triple trouble: A case of traumatic cervical spinal cord injury in a patient with ossification of posterior longitudinal ligament and disc prolapse

Abstract

We describe the case of a trauma patient who presented to our emergency department with signs and symptoms suggestive of cervical cord injury. The patient had an underlying ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament with multiple cervical disc prolapses from C3 to C7. The presence of these two factors increased the impact of the traumatic cervical cord injury. The patient underwent spinal decompression via laminectomy. Unfortunately, his neurological status did not show any significant improvement after the surgery.Our aim is to highlight the association between ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament and spinal cord injury in trauma patients. Keywords: Ossification of posterior longitudinal ligament, OPLL, Trauma, Cord injury, Rta, Road traffic accident, Cervical cord injury, Spinal injury