Symptoms of CERVICAL SPINE FRACTURE

Neck pain and muscle spasm are common. In severe fractures, when the nervous system is affected, there may be weakness or numbness of the arms or legs, difficulty urinating, decreased blood pressure, and shortness of breath or difficulty breathing. On rare occasion, the vertebral arteries are injured. These blood vessels pass along the side of the cervical spine and provide the blood supply of the brainstem, cerebellum and posterior part of the cerebrum. They also form some of the blood vessels that supply the cervical spinal cord. When they are injured by a cervical spine fracture, strokes in the supplied areas of the brain may occur. This can lead to paralysis, increased difficulty breathing, double vision, visual loss and death.