TY - JOUR T1 - Tetraplegia following cervical spine cord contusion from indirect gunshot injury effects JF - Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps JO - J R Army Med Corps SP - 52 LP - 53 DO - 10.1136/jramc-153-01-12 VL - 153 IS - 1 AU - SS Goonewardene AU - KS Mangat AU - ID Sargeant AU - Keith Porter AU - I Greaves Y1 - 2007/03/01 UR - http://militaryhealth.bmj.com/content/153/1/52.abstract N2 - We present the case of a 31 year old British soldier who sustained a high energy gunshot injury to the neck with delayed onset tetraplegia. The bullet’s transcervical track was subsequently shown to have had no direct contact with the spinal cord, but four to five minutes after injury the patient developed tetraplegia. Subsequent Magnetic Resonance Imaging confirmed this to be due to contusion of the cervical spinal cord. This case illustrates the high levels of energy potentially transferred to surrounding tissues by the passage of a high available energy projectile, causing significant injury to nearby structures not actually impacted by the missile. ER -