What Is A Carrot Stick Fracture

These fractures often occur following minimal trauma due to the altered biomechanics of the spine.

What is a carrot stick fracture.

When several contiguous segments of the spine are fused the fused column acts as a lever arm. Chalk stick also known as carrot stick fractures are fractures of the fused spine classically seen in ankylosing spondylitis. The carrot on a stick was not broken and the pig did not walk faster than before. Spinal cord damage is also more common in these patients.

Colloquially this injury is known as a chalk stick or carrot stick fracture. Fused discs above and below the fracture line that traverses the c6 7 disc due to a hyperextension mechanism with compression to the posterior elements. What i expected to happen was. Because of this carrots on sticks cannot be used more often than thrice and are not able to break.

What actually happened was. Late 1800s see also. The ankylosed spine became like a bamboo with increased brittleness so that even a trivial trauma resulted in a horizontal fracture at c5 c6 level involving both anterior and posterior elements c hence called as carrot stick fracture. Terminology some authors define the chalk stick fracture as a fracture through a pagetoid long bone see paget dise.

The american heritage dictionary of idioms by christine ammer. Carrot stick fractures usually occur through the disco vertebral junction in the lower cervical or upper thoracic spine. These classically occur in ankylosing spondylitis but can occur in other settings such as dish opll which may be the underlying diagnosis in this case. When multilevel fusion is present minor trauma can result in severe fractures.

A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title abstract and list of authors clicks on a. In ankylsoing spondylitis. This term alludes to enticing a horse or donkey to move by dangling a carrot before it and either alternately or at the same time urging it forward by beating it with a stick.