Hangman's Fracture

Hangman's fracture is the breakage of both pedicles of the second cervical vertebrae. Commonly referred to as a hangman's fracture due to the the times when people where hung at public gatherings, the patient's neck hyperextends at the same time the patient's body moves forward. Today, this type of fracture is commonly caused from trauma due to a fall, MVA, or sport's injury. Patients with this type of fracture to their neck usually display the symptoms of a constricted pupil in one eye. In most cases where the pedicles are fractured, the patient's spinal cord and root nerves are undamaged due to the widening of the spinal canal; whereas the absence of a fractured pedicle can cause spinal canal and nerve root damage due to the narrowing of the spinal canal. Skull traction may be done to realign the cervical spine; however, the fractured pedicles usually take a while to heal, so surgery may be preferred.