Hangman's fracture
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| Hangman's fracture Classification and external resources | |
| ICD-10 | S12.1 |
|---|---|
A Hangman's fracture is the colloquial name given to a fracture of the pedicles or pars of the axis (C2 vertebra).
The mechanism of the injury is forcible hyperextension of the head. Traditionally this would occur during judicial hanging, when the noose was placed below the condemned subject's chin. When the subject was dropped, the head would be forced into hyperextension by the full weight of the body, a sufficient force to cause the fracture.
In the modern world, this injury is still sometimes seen, due to sports injuries or road traffic accidents. In deliberate or suicidal hanging, asphyxia is much more likely to lead to death.
A common symptom is a constricted pupil on the ipsilateral side (side where damage has occurred).This is due to loss of sympathetic innervation to the eye.The Long Cilliary nerve (a Sympathetic nerve) normally causes pupil dilation in response to decreased illumination. See pupillary light reflex.
See also
Fractures (Sx2, 800-829) | |
|---|---|
| General | Avulsion fracture · Greenstick fracture · Salter-Harris fractures |
| Head | Skull fracture · Basilar · Blowout |
| Vertebral | Cervical · Jefferson · Hangman's · Flexion teardrop · Extension teardrop, Clay-shoveler · Burst · Compression · Wedge · Chance · Hyperextension fracture dislocation |
| Ribs | Rib fracture · Flail chest |
| Shoulder, arm and hand | Clavicle · Humerus · Monteggia · Galeazzi · Colles' · Smith's · Barton's · Scaphoid · Rolando · Bennett's · Boxer's |
| Hip, leg and foot | Hip fracture · Segond · trimalleolar · Bimalleolar · Pott's · Maisonneuve · Lisfranc · Calcaneal · Jones fracture |
Acknowledgement and Attribution Regarding Sources of Content
Some of the initial content on this page may be incorporated in part from copyleft sources in the public domain including wikis such as Wikipedia and AskDrWiki. Drug information for patients came from the The National Library of Medicine. Infectious disease information may have come from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Differential Diagnoses are drawn from clinicians as well as an amalgamation of 3 sources: 1.The Disease Database; 2. Kahan, Scott, Smith, Ellen G. In A Page: Signs and Symptoms. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing, 2004:3; 3. Sailer, Christian, Wasner, Susanne. Differential Diagnosis Pocket. Hermosa Beach, CA: Borm Bruckmeir Publishing LLC, 2002:7 .
