• N S Thompson, R Date, A P Charlwood, I V Adair, and W D Clements.
• Departments of General Surgery and Orthopaedic Surgery, Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast.
• Int. J. Clin. Pract. 2001 Oct 1; 55 (8): 573-5.

AbstractThis report describes a complex syndrome of injuries occurring in a young female who was a back seat passenger wearing a lap-belt restraint in a high-speed road traffic accident. As a consequence of the forced flexion distraction injury of her lumbar spine, she sustained a fracture-subluxation of the first lumbar vertebra in association with a jejunal perforation and extensive small intestinal mesenteric laceration. She also had a large traumatic hernia of the anterior abdominal wall, which was overlooked at primary laparotomy. This report highlights collectively the classical combination of injuries associated with the lap-belt syndrome and demonstrates the importance of carefully inspecting the anterior abdominal wall for deficiencies, because traumatic herniation may be easily overlooked.

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