The paper we mentioned by Jonathan Benger and Jules Blackham can be accessed here:

https://sjtrem.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1757-7241-17-44

Stable versus unstable spinal injury

The location of an injury and involvement of different structures defines the stability of a spinal injury.

Anterior column: anterior longitudinal ligament and the anterior half of the vertebral body/disc.

Middle column: posterior half of the vertebral body/disc and the posterior longitudinal ligament.

Posterior column: facet joints, ligamentum flavum, the spinous processes and the interconnecting ligaments.

An injury involving only the anterior column is considered to be stable, as will an isolated fracture of a spinous or transverse process. An unstable injury is one which involves all 3 columns and often one in which 2 columns are disrupted.

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