Late displacement of a fracture dislocation at the lumbosacral junction. A case study.

STUDY DESIGN

This is a retrospective single-patient case report with a literature review.

OBJECTIVE

To report on an uncommon injury: traumatic fracture-dislocation of the lumbosacral junction with delayed displacement.

SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA

Only 31 cases of traumatic fracture-dislocation of the lumbosacral junction were found in the English literature. Only three previous reports refer to this injury occurring with a posterior displacement. This is the first report of this type of injury displacing in a delayed manner.

METHODS

Chart review.

RESULTS

Open reduction, Arbeitsgemeinschaft fur Osteosynthesefargen instrumentation, and interbody fusion resulted in a satisfactory clinical result with no neurologic impairment.

CONCLUSIONS

The present study reports a very rare injury consisting of traumatic dislocation of the lumbosacral joint, presenting with displacement 2 months after injury. The patient was treated successfully with surgery even though the injury displaced in a delayed fashion.