An extreme example of a chance fracture, with profound destruction of the involved and neighboring vertebral bodies, and retropulsion of bony fragments into the paraspinal musculature and subcutaneous soft tissue.

This is one of those cases where the final resting place of the bony fragments really tells a story of the forces and dynamics involved during the mechanism of injury. An understanding of the basic mechanisms of a chance fracture (flexion-distraction) is required to help understand how these fragments got where they did.

Comparison with other cases (such this) allows a better understanding of how such bony destruction evolves through the mechanism of injury.

Such a severe injury, with destructive compromise of the spinal canal was naturally associated with non recoverable traumatic cord injury (cord transection) .