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Impalement injury of the lumbar spine

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European Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery & Traumatology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Impalement is an uncommon injury, which combines aspects of both blunt and penetrating trauma. Particularly, reported cases of impalement injury of the lumbar spine are very rare. We present a case of impalement in which a steel rod penetrated the back into the vertebral body of the lumbar spine as the result of a fall. This injury was treated successfully with irrigation, debridement, and removal of the foreign body in the operating room. Thereafter, a secondary posterolateral interbody fusion (PLIF) procedure was performed due to instability of the lumbar spine. After 1 year, the patient had regained good functional results.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no relationship, financial or otherwise, with any manufacturers or distributors of products evaluated in the paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Juntendo University Shizuoka Hospital, 1129 Nagaoka, Izunokuni, Shizuoka, 410-2295, Japan

    Kiyohito Naito, Akira Itoi, Kengo Kirimura, Tomoya Muta, Taiji Watari, Akira Isaka, Yoshio Shimamura & Kazuo Kaneko

Authors
  1. Kiyohito Naito
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  2. Akira Itoi
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  3. Kengo Kirimura
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  4. Tomoya Muta
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  5. Taiji Watari
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  6. Akira Isaka
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  7. Yoshio Shimamura
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  8. Kazuo Kaneko
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Correspondence to Kiyohito Naito.

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Naito, K., Itoi, A., Kirimura, K. et al. Impalement injury of the lumbar spine. Eur J Orthop Surg Traumatol 19, 83–86 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00590-008-0376-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00590-008-0376-8

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