Hindawi Publishing Corporation
Case Reports in Medicine
Volume 2012, Article ID 587216, 5 pages
doi:10.1155/2012/587216

Case Report
Sacral Fracture Causing Neurogenic Bladder: A Case Report
Tatsuro Sasaji, Noboru Yamada, and Kazuo Iwai
Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Fukushima Rosai Hospital, 3-Numajiri, Tsuzura-machi, Uchigo, Iwaki 973-8403, Japan
Correspondence should be addressed to Tatsuro Sasaji, taturosasaji@hotmail.com
Received 20 October 2011; Accepted 21 November 2011
Academic Editor: Jeﬀrey C. Wang
Copyright © 2012 Tatsuro Sasaji et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License,
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
A 76-year-old man presented with a Denis Zone III sacral fracture after a traﬃc accident. He also developed urinary retention andperineal numbness. The patient was diagnosed with neurogenic bladder dysfunction caused by the sacral fracture. A computed
tomogram (CT) revealed that third sacral lamina was fractured and displaced into the spinal canal, but vertebral body did notdisplace. The fracture lines began at the center of lamina and extended bilateraly. The fracture pattern was unique. The sacrum
was osteoporosis, and this fracture may be based on osteoporosis. We performed laminectomy to decompress sacral nerve roots.
One month after surgery, the patient was able to urinate. Three months after surgery, his bladder function recovered normally.
One year after surgery, he returned to a normal daily life and had no complaints regarding urination. One-year postoperative CT
showed the decompressed third sacrum without displacement.

1. Introduction
The sacrum is a large, triangular bone that connects the spine
and pelvis through which sacral nerve roots run. Treatmentof sacral fractures is based on the radiographic fracture
pattern and neurological deficit. Denis and his colleagues
classified sacral fractures into three types on the basis of theincidence of neurological injury [1]. Zone I fractures involve
the ala of the sacrum to the lateral border of the neuralforamen. Zone II fractures involve the neural foramen, andZone III fractures involve the central portion of the sacrum.
The incidence of neurological damage in patients with
Zone III sacral fractures has been reported to be 56.7%, ofwhich 76.1% patients developed bowel, bladder, and sexual
dysfunctions. A series of sacral fractures have been reported
till date, but case reports are few and details of sacral fracture
remain unclear. Here, we report the details of radiologicalfindings and therapeutic course for a patient with a Denis
Zone III sacral fracture.
The patient gave consent to submit data for publication.

2. Case Report
A 76-year-old man was hit from behind by a car and admitted
to the hospital. He complained pain in the sacral area. Afteradmission, he faced diﬃculty with urination and developed
perineal numbness.
2.1. Neurological Examination. Neurological examination
showed that his muscle power was normal in lower extremities and his ankle jerk decreased. Sensory disturbance wasdetected on the perineal region. His urinary retention wassevere, sense of bladder urgency was lost, and defecation andbulbocavernosus reflex were normal. His urinary tract was
not damaged. We diagnosed neurogenic bladder dysfunction. All laboratory findings were within normal limits.
2.2. Radiological Findings. A sagittal reconstructed computed tomogram (CT) revealed that the third sacral lamina
was fractured and displaced into the spinal canal. The posterior part of the third sacral vertebral body became hollow,
but the sacral vertebral body did not displace (Figure 1(a)).
An axial reconstructed CT revealed that the third sacral
lamina was fractured bilaterally. The cortex of sacrum wasthin. The trabeculae of the third sacral body were sparse(Figure 1(b)). These appearance suggested osteoporosis. A
three-dimensional CT revealed oblique fracture lines, whichbegan at the center of the third sacral lamina and extended
bilaterally (Figure 2). The fracture lines were unique, andwe suspected the fragility fracture based on osteoprosis. The

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Figure 1: Preoperative reconstructed computed tomogram (CT). (a) Sagittal reconstructed CT: the third sacral lamina fractured anddisplaced into the spinal canal. The third sacral vertebral body did not angulate. (b) Axial reconstructed CT: the third sacral lamina fractured
bilaterally. The spinal canal area decreased. The sacrum was osteoporosis.

RFigure 2: Preoperative three-dimensional CT: fracture lines began at the center of lamina and extended bilaterally.

fracture involved Zone II and III. In relevance to clinicalsymptoms, we diagnosed Denis Zone III sacral fracture.
The vertebral body did not displace, and so we determinedthat this fracture was stable. Our operation plan wasa decompression surgery without stabilization procedure.
Sagittal planes of magnetic resonance imaging showed signal
changes in the sacral vertebral bodies. The third, fourth,and fifth sacral vertebral bodies showed low intensities on
T1- and T2-weighted images (Figures 3(a) and 3(b)). We
interpreted these findings as microfracture.
2.3. Operation. The third sacral lamina was exploredthrough a straight posterior midline approach. Laminectomyof the third sacral lamina was performed using a burr.
No hematoma was observed. The sacral nerve roots wereadhered and not disrupted (Figure 4).
2.4. Postoperative Course. A numbness around his penis
improved soon after surgery. One month after surgery,he was able to urinate. Three months after surgery, hissensation of residual urine was lost and bladder function
recovered normally. One year after surgery, he returned toa normal daily life, although perineal numbness remained.
Two-month postoperative follow-up sagittal reconstructed
CT showed high density area in third sacral vertebral body
(Figure 5(a)). One-year postoperative follow-up sagittal

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3(a)

(b)

Figure 3: Preoperative magnetic resonance image. (a) Sagittal plane on a T1-weighted image and (b) sagittal plane on a T2-weighted image
Third, fourth, and fifth sacral vertebral bodies showed low intensities on T1- and T2-weighted images.

CranialR

Figure 4: Intraoperative photograph: sacral nerve roots were decompressed.

reconstructed CT showed that the sacral vertebral body
had jointed without displacement (Figure 5(b)). One-year
postoperative follow-up three-dimensional CT revealed thatlaminectomy remained without displacement (Figure 6).

3. Discussion
There have been several reports on the incidence of sacral
fractures associated with pelvic fractures. Denis reported
30.4%, Bonnin reported 45%, and Ueda reported 15.9%
of such cases [1–3]. Because of few case reports on sacral
fractures, the details of radiological findings and therapeuticcourse remain unclear [4–6].

Sacral fracture patterns are diﬃcult to understand byplain radiographs. According to a textbook about the spine,
dedicated CT is useful for evaluation of sacral fractures; however, three-dimensional reformed CT add little additional
insight [7]. In the present case, three-dimensional CT clearly
revealed the fracture lines and we planed the operation on
the basis of fracture pattern. Therefore, we recognized theusefulness of three-dimensional CT in the examination ofsacral fractures.
According to Fisher, Gibbons, and Zelle, bladder function
recovered completely in some cases of sacral fractures,
although the time in which it recovered has not been
mentioned in their reports [8–10]. In the present case,

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(a)

(b)

Figure 5: Postoperative follow-up reconstructed CT. (a) Two months after surgery, the third sacral vertebral body showed a high-density
area. (b) One year after surgery, the third sacral vertebral body had jointed without displacement.

RFigure 6: One-year postoperative follow-up three-dimensional CT Laminectomy remained and fracture lines in zone II disappeared.

bladder function recovered completely in three months
because the patient had a simple fracture. The time to recover
bladder function in cases of severe sacral fracture may takemore than three months.
The treatment of sacral fractures is based on fracture
pattern and neurological status. There have been some
reports that neurological status improved by both surgery
and conservative treatment [1, 4, 9–13]. Treatment in casesof sacral fractures with neurological symptoms remains
controversial. In the present case, a stable sacral fracture withneurological deficit was diagnosed. Therefore, we performed
laminectomy without stabilization procedure, which resulted
in a good neurological improvement.

References[1] F. Denis, S. Davis, and T. Comfort, “Sacral fractures: animportant problem: retrospective analysis of 236 cases,”Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, no. 227, pp. 67–81,
1988.
[2] M. J. G. Bonnin, “Sacral fractures and injuries to the caudaequine,” Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, vol. 27, pp. 113–127, 1945.
[3] Y. Ueda, T. Hirai, T. Yonei et al., “Clinical study on sacralfractures,” Orthopaedic Surgery & Traumatology, vol. 38, pp.
149–156, 1995 (Japanese).
[4] S. S. Fountain, R. D. Hamilton, and R. M. Jameson, “Transverse fractures of the sacrum. A report of six cases,” Journal ofBone and Joint Surgery, vol. 59, no. 4, pp. 486–489, 1977.

Case Reports in Medicine[5] M. Fujiwara, B. Wadayama, T. Katayama et al., “Operativetreatment of sacral fractures with neural involvement,” Journal of Japan Fracture Society, vol. 25, pp. 416–419, 2003
(Japanese).
[6] M. Hotokezaka, K. Uemichi, S. Kubo et al., “Recovery ofanorectal function in a patient with sacral fracture: usefulnessof anorectal manometric study,” Journal of Japan Society ofColoproctology, vol. 60, pp. 173–177, 2007 (Japanese).
[7] T. McHenry, C. Bellabarba, and J. R. Chapman, “Sacralfractures,” in Rothman-Simeone The Spine, N. H. Harry, S. R.
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[8] R. G. Fisher, “Sacral fracture with compression of cauda
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[9] K. J. Gibbons, D. S. Soloniuk, and N. Razack, “Neurologicalinjury and patterns of sacral fractures,” Journal of Neurosurgery, vol. 72, no. 6, pp. 889–893, 1990.
[10] B. A. Zelle, G. S. Gruen, T. Hunt, and S. R. Speth, “Sacralfractures with neurological injury: is early decompression
beneficial?” International Orthopaedics, vol. 28, no. 4, pp. 244–251, 2004.
[11] S. T. Phelan, D. A. Jones, and M. Bishay, “Conservativemanagement of transverse fractures of the sacrum withneurological features: a report of four cases,” Journal of Boneand Joint Surgery, vol. 73, no. 6, pp. 969–971, 1991.
[12] C. P. Sabiston and P. C. Wing, “Sacral fractures: classificationand neurologic implications,” Journal of Trauma, vol. 26, no.
12, pp. 1113–1115, 1986.
[13] H. H. Schmidek, D. A. Smith, and T. K. Kristiansen, “Sacralfractures,” Neurosurgery, vol. 15, no. 5, pp. 735–746, 1984.

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