Closed Internal Degloving of the Flank

Originally described in 1853 by Dr. Morel-Lavellee, closed internal degloving injuries represent an important, although uncommon, source of morbidity in trauma patients. These injuries are typically the result of a shearing or crushing force that traumatically separates the skin and subcutaneous tissue from the underlying fat. This results in disruption of perforating blood vessels and lymphatics, leading to hematoma/seroma formation. We describe two cases in which industrial crush injuries resulted in lumbar transverse process fracture. Both patients developed closed degloving injuries of the flank. To the author’s knowledge, this is the first case series describing the occurrence of closed internal degloving injuries of the flank with transverse process fractures. We advise that a high level of suspicion for these lesions to occur with transverse spinal fractures should be maintained, as they may arise several years after initial injury.