Multiple clay shoveler's fractures of the thoracic spine
Typically, a clay shoveler's fracture is a stress-type avulsion fracture involving the spinous processes of the lower cervical or upper thoracic vertebrae. Even though C7 and T1 are the most commonly involved spinal levels, these avulsion fractures can occur at any lower cervical or upper thora...
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sg-ntu-dr.10356-1652172023-03-26T15:41:44Z Multiple clay shoveler's fractures of the thoracic spine Hoong, Wilbur Teng Jun Kaliya-Perumal, Arun-Kumar Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine) Science::Medicine Conservative Treatment Fractures Typically, a clay shoveler's fracture is a stress-type avulsion fracture involving the spinous processes of the lower cervical or upper thoracic vertebrae. Even though C7 and T1 are the most commonly involved spinal levels, these avulsion fractures can occur at any lower cervical or upper thoracic level, either as solitary or multiple fractures. This fracture used to be common in workers who shovel heavy loads of clay for long periods, hence its name. It does not cause any structural, functional, or neurological impairments and is therefore considered a stable fracture. Management is mostly conservative, involving rest, analgesics, and activity modification for a period of 4-6 weeks. Here, we present a 35-year-old male who sustained a motor vehicle accident. Except for midline tenderness in the back, there were no other positive findings. Plain radiographs showed a T11 vertebral compression fracture and absent or deviated spinous process shadows for most of the upper thoracic vertebrae. Computed tomography (CT) imaging clearly revealed multiple spinous process fractures extending from T2 to T8 levels. Considering the stability of these fractures, the patient was managed conservatively with rest, bracing, and analgesics. The recovery was quick, and he was back to his full functional status by six weeks. Published version 2023-03-20T07:41:00Z 2023-03-20T07:41:00Z 2022 Journal Article Hoong, W. T. J. & Kaliya-Perumal, A. (2022). Multiple clay shoveler's fractures of the thoracic spine. Diagnostics, 12(9), 2190-. https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics12092190 2075-4418 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/165217 10.3390/diagnostics12092190 36140592 2-s2.0-85138667307 9 12 2190 en Diagnostics © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). application/pdf |
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Science::Medicine Conservative Treatment Fractures Hoong, Wilbur Teng Jun Kaliya-Perumal, Arun-Kumar Multiple clay shoveler's fractures of the thoracic spine |
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Typically, a clay shoveler's fracture is a stress-type avulsion fracture involving the spinous processes of the lower cervical or upper thoracic vertebrae. Even though C7 and T1 are the most commonly involved spinal levels, these avulsion fractures can occur at any lower cervical or upper thoracic level, either as solitary or multiple fractures. This fracture used to be common in workers who shovel heavy loads of clay for long periods, hence its name. It does not cause any structural, functional, or neurological impairments and is therefore considered a stable fracture. Management is mostly conservative, involving rest, analgesics, and activity modification for a period of 4-6 weeks. Here, we present a 35-year-old male who sustained a motor vehicle accident. Except for midline tenderness in the back, there were no other positive findings. Plain radiographs showed a T11 vertebral compression fracture and absent or deviated spinous process shadows for most of the upper thoracic vertebrae. Computed tomography (CT) imaging clearly revealed multiple spinous process fractures extending from T2 to T8 levels. Considering the stability of these fractures, the patient was managed conservatively with rest, bracing, and analgesics. The recovery was quick, and he was back to his full functional status by six weeks. |
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Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine) |
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Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine) Hoong, Wilbur Teng Jun Kaliya-Perumal, Arun-Kumar |
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Article |
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Hoong, Wilbur Teng Jun Kaliya-Perumal, Arun-Kumar |
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Hoong, Wilbur Teng Jun |
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Multiple clay shoveler's fractures of the thoracic spine |
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Multiple clay shoveler's fractures of the thoracic spine |
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Multiple clay shoveler's fractures of the thoracic spine |
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Multiple clay shoveler's fractures of the thoracic spine |
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Multiple clay shoveler's fractures of the thoracic spine |
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multiple clay shoveler's fractures of the thoracic spine |
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2023 |
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https://hdl.handle.net/10356/165217 |
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