Abstract
Introduction Diagnosis of occipital condyle fracture (OCF) following a trauma needs high awareness
among the trauma surgeons.
Aim In our study, we attempt to discern if any factor or a combination of factors influences
the final outcome following OCF.
Materials and Methods We prospectively analyzed the outcome in OCF patients admitted during 2017 to 2019
at our center. We had 14 patients with polytrauma with OCF. Among them two were lost
for follow-up. So, 12 patients were followed up for 6 months after injury. The following
10 factors were analyzed—age, sex, injury, Glasgow Coma Scale, Injury Severity Score,
spinal injury, associated injuries, blood pressure, medical conditions, and surgical
intervention. Outcome was divided into good and poor outcomes. Chi-squared test was
used. All these patients were treated conservatively for OCF for 3 months.
Results There was no significant factor, since p-value was greater than 0.05 for all variables. Only Injury Severity Score (0.091)
was close to the significant p-value. Seven patients had severe head injuries and among them one died and four had
the worst outcome. Among the five patients who had spinal injuries, only two had good
outcomes.
Conclusion Our results indicate that the outcome following OCF is not determined by any single
factor. Injury Severity Score comes close to determining the final outcome. This indicates
that the overall patient management especially of associated injuries is the determining
factor in the outcome in patients who had sustained OCF.
Keywords
occipital condyle fracture - Polytrauma - head injuries
