Surgical treatment of complicated atlas fracture combined with adjacent segment instability / 中华创伤杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To study the clinical and radiographic characteristics of complicated axis fractures combined with adjacent segment instability and explore reasonable surgical treatment strategy. Methods A retrospective study was performed on 21 patients with axis fractures treated from August 2003 to June 2009. There were 14 males and 7 females at mean age of 34 years. The treatment strategy was based on the fracture type and the stabilities of adjacent atlantoaxial joint and intervertebral C2/3.Treatment strategies included anterior C2/3 interbody discectomy and fusion, anterior cervical plate internal fixation, odontoid screw fixation, posterior C1-2 pedicle screw fixation, cervical lateral mass screw fixation or combined anteroposterior approach. Results All patients were immobilized in a hard collar for thee months and followed up for 6-36 months (average 12 months), which showed bony fusion and cervical stability, with no intraoperative surgery-related complications such as loosening, extrusion or breakage of fixation, vertebral artery injury, nerve damage, cerebrospinal fluid leakage or wound infection. Neurological recovery was observed in five patients. Conclusions For complicated atlas fractures, correct identification of fracture type and instability disturbance of adjacent atlantoaxial joint and C2/3 as well as active treatment can conduce to better effect.