Introduction: Traumatic vertebral artery dissections resulting in stroke are relatively rare occurrences, especially in the absence of classic physical examination findings.
Case report: We present the case of a 30-year-old male with chest pain following a car axle falling onto his chest while trying to change a tire. He was discharged from the emergency department after having a negative workup for thoracic injury. Six hours later, the patient returned with headache and was found to have a cerebellar stroke secondary to vertebral artery dissection. After hospitalization, the patient was discharged home without any neurological deficits.
Conclusion: As they are usually asymptomatic, up to 80% of patients with blunt cerebrovascular injury will have delayed or missed diagnoses. Given the increased awareness of vascular injuries and their high morbidity, physicians should maintain a high index of suspicion for this diagnosis.