Mr. Heintz was a passenger in the vehicle that his wife was driving, they were enroute to the courts to finalize their divorce. While enroute they were fighting and he felt his wife was swerving into another lane. Mr. Heintz grabbed the steering wheel to correct the car’s position so it would stay in the lane. In that interim, they crashed. Mr. Heintz didn’t recall what they hit. Mr. Heintz felt immediate pain and a pop in his lower back. Mr. Heintz then remembers the ambulance and being taken to Beaumont Oakwood. Mr. Heintz denied a desire to kill himself or his wife. He was just upset and impulsive. Mr. Heintz was alert and oriented x3, sensation to upper extremity was intact with a decrease in sensation to his bilateral lower extremity from the hips down. …show more content…
Heintz was able to wiggle his toes bilaterally and his GCS was 15. The CT scan of the lumbar was compared with an MRI from April 14, 2014. It was noted that Mr. Heintz had a burst type compression fracture of the L1 vertebral body which produces 67% loss of the mid and anterior vertebral body height loss. There is retropulsion of the superior aspect of the prevertebral body and endplate produces a severe spinal canal narrowing. The fracture produces paravertebral hematoma. There is a fracture extending through the right paramidline lamina and into the base of the spinous process. There is a mildly displaced fracture involving the right, L1 transverse process. The intra-abdominal compartment showed small amounts of perisplenic fluid and a small amount of low density free fluid in the pelvis. (A CT of abdominal was recommended) and there were areas of urinary bladder wall thickening within and findings could be reflective of a degree of nonspecific cystitis superimposed upon chronic changes. The L1 burst fracture resulted in a severe spinal canal stenosis and cauda equina syndrome. Mr. Heinz had surgery of the T11 to L3 posterior decompression and fusion with L1 corpectomy on