Cervical burst fracture

Cervical burst fracture. This is a very serious cervical spine injury that occurs as a result of severe axial loading. A vertical fracture (best seen on the CT image, left) extends through the vertebral body and results in displacement of the anterior part anteriorly, and the posterior part posteriorly – which can cause injury to the spinal cord, as in this case of a C6 fracture (the MRI on the right shows abnormal high signal in the spinal cord due to haemorrhage and oedema).