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The role of MRI in spinal stab wounds compared with intraoperative findings

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Abstract

Introduction

Spinal stab wound injuries are quite rare and only few patients have been reported on the basis of MRI scan.

Methods

A 25-year-old man was stabbed at C1/2 and had an incomplete Brown-Sequard syndrome. He underwent surgical exploration because of CSF leakage on the fourth day.

Results

After a follow-up period of 32 months, he was left with a remaining loss of the proprioception of the right foot. We show detailed CT and MR images with the focus on the lesions of the dura and myelon and compared them with intraoperative images. In addition, we contrast our findings with a review of literature published over the last three decades.

Conclusion

MRI gives the most detailed view of soft tissue lesions in SSWs and is in accordance with our intraoperative findings.

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Conflict of interest

None of the authors has any potential conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, Christian Doppler Clinic, Paracelsus Medical University, Ignaz Harrer Str. 79, 5020, Salzburg, Austria

    Stephan Emich

  2. Christian-Doppler Klinik, Universitätsinstitut für Radiologie und Kernspintomographie, Ignaz-Harrer-Straße 79, 5020, Salzburg, Austria

    Friedrich Weymayr, Jürgen Steinbacher & Mark R. McCoy

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  1. Stephan Emich
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  2. Friedrich Weymayr
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  3. Jürgen Steinbacher
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  4. Mark R. McCoy
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Correspondence to Stephan Emich.

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Emich, S., Weymayr, F., Steinbacher, J. et al. The role of MRI in spinal stab wounds compared with intraoperative findings. Eur Spine J 21 (Suppl 4), 535–541 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-012-2182-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-012-2182-6

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