Larynx Fracture is a topic covered in the 5-Minute Emergency Consult.

To view the entire topic, please or purchase a subscription.

Emergency Central is a collection of disease, drug, and test information including 5-Minute Emergency Medicine Consult, Davis’s Drug, McGraw-Hill Medical’s Diagnosaurus®, Pocket Guide to Diagnostic Tests, and MEDLINE Journals created for emergency medicine professionals. Explore these free sample topics:

Emergency Central

-- The first section of this topic is shown below --

Basics

Description

  • Direct transfer of severe forces to the larynx
  • Simple mucosal tears to fractured and comminuted cartilage:
    • Epiglottis, thyroid, arytenoid, cricoid, corniculate, and cuneiform cartilages

Etiology

  • Rare: 1/5,000–1/42,000 ED visits
  • <1% of all blunt trauma
  • Directly related mortality is 2–15%
  • Blunt or penetrating trauma to the anterior neck associated with motor vehicle or motorcycle crash, assault, or recreational activities.
  • Typical mechanism is hyperextension of neck with a direct blow to the exposed anterior neck.
  • “Clothesline” injury is a classic mechanism (victim struck in neck by cord, wire, or branch hung across path of travel).
  • Iatrogenic injuries from intubation are becoming more common with an aging population.

Pediatric Considerations
Bicycle handlebars:
  • Extended neck hits the bar, compressing structures between the bar and vertebral column.

-- To view the remaining sections of this topic, please or purchase a subscription --

Citation

* When formatting your citation, note that all book, journal, and database titles should be italicized* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - ELEC T1 - Larynx Fracture ID - 307372 Y1 - 2016 PB - 5-Minute Emergency Consult UR - https://emergency.unboundmedicine.com/emergency/view/5-Minute_Emergency_Consult/307372/all/Larynx_Fracture ER -