Picture quiz Trauma to neck after a fall
BMJ 2007; 334 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/sbmj.0706230 (Published 01 June 2007) Cite this as: BMJ 2007;334:0706230- Mushfikur Rahman, senior house officer in basic surgical training1,
- Caspar Aylott, specialist registrar in orthopaedics2
- 1Gloucester Royal Hospital
- 2South West rotation
A 72 year old woman attended the emergency department with a one day history of a fall after drinking two bottles of wine. She was found by her neighbour in a confused state and an ambulance was called. She complained of severe neck pain and an occipital headache associated with nausea. On examination, her Glasgow coma scale score was 15/15 and neurologically she was intact. There was some tenderness in the neck, but no bruising or deformity, and no restriction of movement was found. A diagnosis of a soft tissue injury was made and she was discharged home with analgesia and head injury advice, under the supervision of her son.
The patient presented again to the emergency department four weeks later with ongoing pain unrelieved by simple analgesia. The patient stated that it “felt like her head was falling off.” There were no new …
Log in
Log in using your username and password
Log in through your institution
Subscribe from £184 *
Subscribe and get access to all BMJ articles, and much more.
* For online subscription
Access this article for 1 day for:
£50 / $60/ €56 (excludes VAT)
You can download a PDF version for your personal record.