Ms. Joni, a 54-year-old female was in a motor vehicle accident. She was the driver and the sole occupant of the vehicle. Ms. Joni had her seat belt on. She was at a complete stop at a traffic light and when she was rear-ended. The vehicle that hit her was traveling at a speed of 50 miles per hour. Airbags were deployed. Ms. Joni hit her head on the driver's side window. She has a significant laceration on left temporal side of her head. She is complaining of pain that worsens when neck is moved, headache, dizziness as well as upper back pain. She states she has numbness and tingling and can't feel her hands. What kind of injury does joni have?

Rationale: A. Hyperflexion injuries occur when the head and neck are forcefully bent forward, often seen in head-on collisions where the occupant’s body moves forward violently. Ms. Joni’s mechanism involved being rear-ended, not a forward bend of the neck. B. Excessive rotational injuries occur when the head is twisted forcefully relative to the torso, which can injure ligaments or vertebrae. There is no indication that Ms. Joni’s neck was rotated in this manner during the accident. C. Hyperextension occurs when the head is forcefully thrown backward, stretching and potentially injuring the anterior structures of the cervical spine. Rear-end collisions commonly produce a whiplash mechanism, causing hyperextension of the neck. Ms. Joni’s complaints of neck pain worsened with movement, headache, dizziness, upper back pain, and numbness/tingling in the hands are consistent with cervical hyperextension injury affecting the spinal cord and nerve roots. D. Axial loading occurs when a force is applied along the vertical axis of the spine, such as from diving into shallow water or a fall landing on the head, which can compress vertebrae. This mechanism does not match the circumstances of Ms. Joni’s rear-end collision.