• Wongtong Wangtaphan, Myint Oo, Permsak Paholpak, Zhuo Wang, Toshihiko Sakakibara, and Yuichi Kasai.
• Department of Spinal Surgery and Medical Engineering, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan.
• Spine. 2012 Oct 15;37(22):E1410-4.

Study DesignA case report.ObjectiveTo describe a case of traumatic lumbosacral spondyloptosis and present a literature review.Summary Of Background DataTraumatic spondyloptosis is a very rare injury caused by high-energy trauma. Eight cases of traumatic spondyloptosis of L5-S1 have been reported, including only 1 case treated 8.5 months after injury occurrence.MethodsA 45-year-old Myanmar male experienced severe lower back pain and paresis of the lower extremities after a landslide disaster. Plain radiographs showed spondyloptosis, with the 5th lumbar vertebra located anterior to the 1st sacral vertebra. Computed tomography myelography demonstrated complete bilateral pars interarticularis fracture dislocation at L5-S1 and a complete block between L5 and S1 with apparent spondyloptosis. Neurological function of this patient improved after conservative treatment for 5 months; however, his severe lower back pain persisted. Thus, surgery for in situ posterior decompression and fusion of L3-S1 was performed.ResultsLower back pain of the patient had nearly disappeared 2 weeks after surgery, and he was able to walk for more than 1 hour without assistance 2 years after surgery.ConclusionWe performed posterior decompression and in situ fusion of L3-S1 for the patients with traumatic lumbosacral spondyloptosis treated 5 months after injury, and the surgery produced a favorable clinical outcome.

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