A flexion teardrop fracture is a

fracture Fracture is the appearance of a crack or complete separation of an object or material into two or more pieces under the action of stress (mechanics), stress. The fracture of a solid usually occurs due to the development of certain displacemen ...

of the anteroinferior aspect of a

cervical vertebra In tetrapods, cervical vertebrae (: vertebra) are the vertebrae of the neck, immediately below the skull. Truncal vertebrae (divided into thoracic and lumbar vertebrae in mammals) lie caudal (toward the tail) of cervical vertebrae. In sauropsid s ...

l body due to flexion of the spine along with vertical axial compression. The fracture continues sagittally through the vertebral body, and is associated with deformity of the body and subluxation or dislocation of the

facet joints The facet joints (also zygapophysial joints, zygapophyseal, apophyseal, or Z-joints) are a set of synovial, plane joints between the articular processes of two adjacent vertebrae. There are two facet joints in each spinal motion segment and ...

at the injured level. A flexion teardrop fracture is usually associated with a

spinal cord injury A spinal cord injury (SCI) is damage to the spinal cord that causes temporary or permanent changes in its function. It is a destructive neurological and pathological state that causes major motor, sensory and autonomic dysfunctions. Symptoms of ...

, often a result of displacement of the posterior portion of the vertebral body into the

spinal canal In human anatomy, the spinal canal, vertebral canal or spinal cavity is an elongated body cavity enclosed within the dorsal bony arches of the vertebral column, which contains the spinal cord, spinal roots and dorsal root ganglia. It is a pro ...

. The flexion teardrop fracture should not be confused with a similar-looking vertebral fracture called "extension teardrop fracture". Both usually occur in the cervical spine, but as their names suggest, they result from different mechanisms (flexion-compression vs. hyperextension). Both are associated with a small fragment being broken apart from the anteroinferior corner of the affected vertebra. Flexion teardrop fractures usually involve instability in all elements of the spine at the injured level, commonly occur at the C4-C7 vertebra, and have a high association with spinal cord injury (in particular anterior cord syndrome). In comparison, the extension-type fracture occurs more commonly at C2 or C3, causes less if any disruption to the middle and posterior elements, and does not usually result in spinal cord injury (however, it may co-occur with more serious spine injuries).

References

Bone fractures Cervical spine fracture Orthopedic problems {{Injury-stub