Fracture of the hyoid bone.

Abstract

Fracture of the hyoid bone is likely to prove fatal because of asphyxia. Sufficient stress to cause a hyoid fracture will frequently produce soft-tissue injuries which mask its presence unless the attending physician deliberately examines the bone radiographically, or familiarity with the clinical symptoms alerts him to its possibility. Conversely, the external visible evidence of a fracture or severe soft-tissue injury may be so slight that the possibility is overlooked. Patients may die because of asphyxia associated with pharyngeal and laryngeal spasm, unless relieved by tracheotomy. The radiologic diagnosis of fractures of the hyoid bone has been neglected, only 8 cases having been reported in the last twenty to twenty-five years. Two cases to be presented here illustrate the clinical problems and the radiologic findings. Case I: Gunshot Fracture of the hyoid Bone. A 23-year-old white male prisoner was struck in the left side of the neck by a single buckshot fired during a prison riot. The shot entere...