ABSTRACT
In conflicts of war, injuries to the thoracolumbar spine and pelvis have become a major problem for combatants in military vehicles due to the increasing threat from underbelly (UB) blast events. Spinal injuries are most commonly observed at the thoracolumbar junction and in the lumbar spine, with injury types including chance fractures, compression and burst fractures. This chapter discusses spinal and pelvic anatomy in context with the clinical, biomechanical and military literature on spinal and pelvic injuries sustained in aircraft ejection, helicopter crash and UB blast events, with a focus on UB blast. The human vertebral column is comprised of five distinct regions: the cervical, thoracic, lumbar sacrum and coccyx spines, where there are 24 articulating vertebrae and nine fused vertebrae to form a total of 33 vertebrae. Each of these regions is contoured to form either a lordotic or a kyphotic.
