Traumatic atlantoaxial rotatory subluxation in adults - A case report and literature review

Traumatic atlantoaxial rotatory subluxation (AARS) is extremely rare in adult versus pediatric populations. Patients usually present with post-traumatic neck pain and torticollis. Surgical management aims at reducing the deformity and stabilizing the spine utilizing external orthotics, and/or intern...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inSurgical neurology international Vol. 11; p. 376
Main Authors Horsfall, Hugo Layard, Gharooni, Aref-Ali, Al-Mousa, Alaa, Shtaya, Anan, Pereira, Erlick
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Scientific Scholar 06.11.2020
Subjects
Review
Subluxation
Atlantoaxial dislocations
Atlantoaxial rotatory subluxation
Trauma
Atlantoaxial
Cervical spine
Rotatory
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Summary:Traumatic atlantoaxial rotatory subluxation (AARS) is extremely rare in adult versus pediatric populations. Patients usually present with post-traumatic neck pain and torticollis. Surgical management aims at reducing the deformity and stabilizing the spine utilizing external orthotics, and/or internal reduction/fixation. A 65-year-old female fell downstairs at home. She complained of neck pain with right-sided tenderness and torticollis. The radiographic studies and CT scan demonstrated AARS. This led to an emergent open reduction with internal fixation at the C1-C2 level. We identified 25 similar cases of AARS in the English literature. Patients averaged 28.7 years of age and mostly sustained motor vehicle accidents largely treated with traction/orthotics; only six patients required surgical open reduction/internal fixation. In this case, the patient's C1-C2 deformity required open reduction/internal fixation rather than bracing alone.
ISSN:2229-5097
2152-7806
2152-7806
DOI:10.25259/SNI_671_2020