Acheson records a case of luxation of the cervical spine with
recovery after the use of a jury-mast. The patient was a man of
fifty-five, by trade a train-conductor. On July 10, 1889, he fell
backward in front of a train, his head striking between the ties;
the brake-body caught his body, pushing it forward on his head,
and turned him completely over. Three trucks passed over him.
When dragged from beneath the train, his upper extremities were
paralyzed. At noon the next day, nineteen hours after the
accident, examination revealed bruises over the body, and he
suffered intense pain at the back of the neck and base of the
skull. Posteriorly, the neck presented a natural appearance; but
anteriorly, to use the author's description, his neck resembled a
combined case of mumps and goiter. The sternomastoid muscle
bulged at the angle of the jaw, and was flaccid, and his "Adam's
apple" was on a level with the chin. Sensation in the upper
extremities was partially restored, and, although numb, he now
had power of movement in the arms and hands, but could not rotate
his neck. A diagnosis of cervical dislocation was made, and
violent extension, with oscillation forward and backward, was
practiced, and the abnormal appearance subsided at once.
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