Transverse process fracture L2+L3

[paulineh]

I am currently abroad in the Czech Republic - and the medical treatment here is very different. Patients are kept in the dark, doctors do not communicate, nor do they do a full investigation.

Three days ago I was on horseback, riding crosscountry, and while on a downhill slope the horse suddenly spooked and I summersaulted over his head, landing on my back and head.

I was x-rayed, but no-one actually palpated my spine or examined me. The diagnosis on the basis of the x-rays was a slight concussion and transverse process fractures at L2 and L3. After observation in the hospital I am being told I should go home but without any clear instructions on what to do, what to expect, what the implications are, and what follow-up there will be.

I can walk very slowly, but as my left leg gives out on me I am a little tentative (no diagnosis on the leg). It is naturally painful to lie, turn, and sit. Standing is slightly better.

Help! It's bad enough being far from home...but in this country it seems patients are told nothing and just expected to go there merry way. I have no idea what I can or should do.

Thank you for any light you can shed on this,

Pauline

[Browny]

I am from the UK and it is similar here. In fact, my situation is much worse. Even though I was taken into A & E with suspected fractures of the spine (on a spinal board) and numbness in my buttock area and the X-rays they took showed several severe compression fractures and severe kyphosis, they sent me home within the hour saying I only had a sprain. I was immobile - they just dumped me in a wheelchair. My wife got me home and I crawled into the house but it was agony.

Despite a report on the X-ray detailing Chance fractures and kyphosis and another one detailing compression fractures 3 months later, they still did not tell me why I was suffering so. They sent me to physio after 6 weeks but around 4 months later when she encouraged me to walk my legs swelled and went red and then my foot and calf started to go numb and my left leg started giving way. I still have this now 2 years on.

Good luck with the doctors. I still can not get any details out of them.