A case report of acute injury in ankylosing spondylitis

Abstract

Ankylosing spinal disorders tend to fracture after minor trauma because of its changed biomechanical properties. Herein we presented an ankylosing spinal disorders case with cervical spine fracture in a trauma after neck protection and surgical airway application. On CT scan of cervical spine, ankylosing spondylitis with an extension C4–C5 fracture was found. The patients' family decided not to receive operation to immobilize his cervical spine, then he was admitted to our surgical intensive care unit. He was discharged against medical advice two months later with a permanent tracheostomy with ventilator dependence due to high-level spinal cord injury. Timely identification of unstable fractures is instrumental in avoiding adverse neurologic sequela.

Keywords

• Ankylosing spinal disorder
• Cervical spine fracture
• Trauma
• CT scan