Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2024 Feb 14;18(1):55.
doi: 10.1186/s13256-024-04358-w.

'Skip' osteoporosis vertebral compression fractures caused by electrical injury: a case report and review of the literature

Ruili Jia  1 , Yanhao Sun  2 , Chong Liu  3 , Rui-Chao Liu  3 , Yubin Long  4
Affiliations
Review

'Skip' osteoporosis vertebral compression fractures caused by electrical injury: a case report and review of the literature

Ruili Jia et al. J Med Case Rep. .

Abstract

Introduction: Electrical injuries rarely result in fractures, such as long bone fractures and spinal fractures. A few articles have reported osteoporosis vertebral compression fractures (OVCFs) caused by electrical injuries. Here, we present a rare case of 37-year-old male suffering from the 9th thoracic (T9) and 5th lumbar (L5) OVCFs after receiving a electric shock.

Case presentation: A 37-year-old Han male experienced an electric shock (480 V direct current) at the working time and felt immediately serious back pain. He did not fall and lose consciousness. X-ray and magnetic resonance imaging showed acute OVCFs, as well as dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry indicated osteoporosis. Normal laboratory tests can avoid secondary osteoporosis resulting from metabolic diseases and tumors. Finally, he was diagnosed with acute discontinuous OVCFs (T9 and L5). The patient denied having a history of back pain, whereas, he had a history of smoking, alcohol abuse, and congenital heart disease (tetralogy of Fallot) were associated with osteoporosis. Considering no local kyphosis and < 50% anterior body compression, we selected conservative treatment for this patient. At a 1-year and 3-year follow-up, the lateral thoracic and lumbar radiography demonstrated no instability of the spine, and the back pain has been relieved.

Conclusions: This rare case reminds us the importance of consulting a detailed medical history when we encounter young patients receiving electrical injuries. Discontinuously OVCFs must not be overlooked, even though we encounter a young man.

Keywords: Electrical injury; Osteoporosis; Vertebral compression fractures; Young.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

There is no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Radiology date of the patient at the time of injury. a The lateral X-ray showed 9th thoracic (T9) vertebral compression fractures (VCFs). b The lateral X-ray showed 5th lumbar (L5) VCFs. Arrows showed the T9 and L5 fracture
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Radiology date of the patient at the time of injury. a Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed T9 VCFs. b MRI showed L5 VCFs
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Radiology date of the patient at 1-year follow-up. a The lateral X-ray showed showed T9. b The lateral X-ray showed L5
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Radiology date of the patient at 3-year follow-up. a The lateral X-ray showed showed T9. b The lateral X-ray showed L5. c Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed T9 VCFs. d MRI showed L5 VCFs. Arrows showed the T9 and L5 fracture
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Engel AJ, Forshee WA, Wasyliw C, Scherer K. Recurrent shoulder posteroinferior subluxation status post reverse remplissage. Cureus. 2020;12(4):e7522. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Rana M, Banerjee R. Scapular fracture after electric shock. Ann R Coll Surg Engl. 2006;88(2):3–4. doi: 10.1308/147870806X95203. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. van den Brink WA, van Leeuwen O. Lumbar burst fracture due to low voltage shock: a case report. Acta Orthopaed Scand. 1995;66(4):374–375. doi: 10.3109/17453679508995566. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Sinha A, Dholakia M. Thoracic compression fracture caused by electrically induced injury. PM R. 2009;1(8):780–782. doi: 10.1016/j.pmrj.2009.05.011. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Svensson H, Olofsson E, Karlsson J, Hansson T, Olsson L-E. A painful, never ending story: older women’s experiences of living with an osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture. Osteoporos Int. 2016;27:1729–1736. doi: 10.1007/s00198-015-3445-y. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

MeSH terms