A 50-YEAR-OLD MAN RIDING A MOTORCYCLE was involved in a collision with a car. He was transferred to the emergency department of our hospital immediately after the accident. The physical examination on admission revealed stable vital signs, abrasions over his bilateral extremities, and painful swelling in his back with a marked step-like deformity. The neurologic examination revealed incomplete motor paralysis and sporadic skin sensibility impairment in his lower limbs. Bilateral ankle and knee jerks were absent, but decreased anal reflex was observed. A lateral radiograph (Fig 1) and computed tomographic scan (Fig 2) of the lumbar spine revealed complete anterior dislocation of the L3 vertebra. The spinal column was shortened because the L3 and L4 vertebrae were located in the same transverse plane (Fig 2, A).
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