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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Asian J Neurosurg 2019; 14(04): 1249-1252
DOI: 10.4103/ajns.AJNS_214_19
Case Report

Traumatic atlantoaxial dislocation with an odontoid fracture: A rare and potentially fatal injury

Khaled Zitouna
1   Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, La Rabta Hospital
2   Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Faculté De Médecine De Tunis, Tunis Medical School, Tunis
,
Hend Riahi
2   Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Faculté De Médecine De Tunis, Tunis Medical School, Tunis
3   Department of Radiology, Kassab Institute, Tunis
,
Nabil Lassoued
1   Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, La Rabta Hospital
2   Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Faculté De Médecine De Tunis, Tunis Medical School, Tunis
,
Mohamed Selmene
1   Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, La Rabta Hospital
2   Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Faculté De Médecine De Tunis, Tunis Medical School, Tunis
,
Maher Barsaoui
1   Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, La Rabta Hospital
2   Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Faculté De Médecine De Tunis, Tunis Medical School, Tunis
,
Ghassen Drissi
1   Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, La Rabta Hospital
2   Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Faculté De Médecine De Tunis, Tunis Medical School, Tunis
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Traumatic dislocation of the atlanto-axial joint in combination with an odontoid fracture remains a rare entity. Beaucause of its instability, it's alsoo a seriuous injury. A fatal outcome is feared especially in elderly. We report a case of 74-year-old man who presented with neck pain Confusion and spastic tetraparesia after a low energy trauma. Radiographs and computed tomography demonstrated a C1C2 dislocation with odontoid fracture. After an unsuccessful attempt at closed reduction with halo traction, a surgical stabilisation was performed using a posterior approach. Death was occured in early postoperative due to respiratory distress.

Key-words:

Atlantoaxial dislocation - elderly patients - neurological deficit - odontoid fracture - surgical management

Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.




Publication History

Article published online:
09 September 2022

© 2019. Asian Congress of Neurological Surgeons. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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