Traumatic Lumbosacral Spondyloptosis: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Abstract

Study Design Case report and review of the literature. Objective To report a case of traumatic L5–S1 spondyloptosis and review the literature. Method A 28-year-old man presented with severe low back pain, numbness at the soles of feet, and bowel and bladder dysfunction. Two days before admission, a tree trunk fell on his back while he was seated. A two-stage posterior-anterior procedure was performed. At the first stage, posterior decompression, reduction, and fusion with instrumentation were performed. At the second stage, which was performed 6 days after the first stage, the patient underwent anterior lumbar interbody fusion. The patient received physical therapy 1 week after the second stage. Results The patient's numbness improved immediately after the first posterior surgery. His fecal and urinary incontinence improved 6 months after discharge. He has been pain-free for a year and has returned to work. Conclusion A PubMed search was performed using the following keywords: lumbosacral spondyloptosis, lumbosacral dislocation, and L5–S1 traumatic dislocation. The search returned only nine reported cases of traumatic spondyloptosis. Traumatic spondyloptosis at the lumbosacral junction is a rare ailment that should be suspected in cases of high, direct, and posterior impact on the low lumbar area, and surgical treatment should be the standard choice of care.