Kosar Hussain1, Sally Khalid Ahmed Abu-khumra2, Firas Jaafar Kareem Alnajjar2, Motea Mohamad Abdo2

1Department of Internal Medicine, Rashid Hospital, Dubai Health Authority, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
2Department of Emergency Medicine, Rashid Hospital Trauma Center, Dubai Health Authority, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Keywords: Ossification of posterior longitudinal ligament; OPLL; Trauma; Cord injury; Rta; Road traffic accident; Cervical cord injury; Spinal injury

Abstract

We describe the case of a trauma patient who presented to our emergency department with signs and symptoms suggestive of cervical cord injury. The patient had an underlying ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament with multiple cervical disc prolapses from C3 to C7. The presence of these two factors increased the impact of the traumatic cervical cord injury. The patient underwent spinal decompression via laminectomy. Unfortunately, his neurological status did not show any significant improvement after the surgery.

Our aim is to highlight the association between ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament and spinal cord injury in trauma patients.