Traumatic cervical spine injury due to pole dance accident: A potentially catastrophic unreported injury with a happy ending. Case report and literature review

<jats:sec id="st1"> <jats:title>Background: </jats:title> <jats:p>Pole dancing is a sport that has become very popular. However, there is scarce literature on injuries associated with this sport. Here, we present a 23-year-old female who sustained a traumatic C4-C5 vertex cervical spine injury caused by a fall of 1 m while practicing pole dancing in an inverted position, requiring a 360 decompression/fusion.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec id="st2"> <jats:title>Case Description: </jats:title> <jats:p>A 23-year-old female sustained a 1 m fall in an inverted position while pole dancing resulting in a direct axial impact to the head. She developed the rapid onset of quadriparesis that was attributed to the emergent CT/MR-documented cervical flexodisruptive luxofracture (AOSpine C4-C5 fracture: C, F4 unilateral, N3, M2). Four hours post injury, she underwent a C4-C5 anterior cervical discectomy and fusion. Four days later, a posterior fusion was performed to add to the stabilization. Six years later, the patient remains neurologically intact.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec id="st3"> <jats:title>Conclusion: </jats:title> <jats:p>Pole dance is an emerging sport which carries a risk of cervical spine injury.</jats:p> </jats:sec>