A 33-year-old man was a passenger in a car involved in a head-on collision traveling at 97 km/h. He is brought into the accident and emergency department as a trauma call. He was sitting in the rear of the car in the central passenger seat restrained by an old-style ‘lap belt’, unlike the other passengers who were wearing standard shoulder and lap belts. He was thrown forward into the seat in front. He was conscious throughout but is complaining of severe pain in the lower thoracic and lumbar spine.
Examination Primary survey is unremarkable and his observations are stable. There is marked tenderness over the lower thoracic and lumbar spine. On neurological examination of the lower limbs there are no motor or sensory abnormalities. Per rectal examination revealed normal tone. A computed tomography (CT) examination of the thorax and abdomen was obtained with sagittal and coronal…
