A case of cervical myelopathy following chronic hypertrophic non-union type 2 odontoid fracture managed with posterior C1 decompression and C1-3 instrumentation: Case report and brief review of literature

Ahmed Taha Elsayed Shaaban; Ahmed Doomi; Sirajeddin Belkheir

doi:10.25259/SNI_173_2020

A case of cervical myelopathy following chronic hypertrophic non-union type 2 odontoid fracture managed with posterior C1 decompression and C1-3 instrumentation: Case report and brief review of literature

Surg Neurol Int. 2020 May 30:11:132. doi: 10.25259/SNI_173_2020. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Ahmed Taha Elsayed Shaaban¹, Ahmed Doomi¹, Sirajeddin Belkheir^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Departments of Neurosurgery, Hamad General Hospital, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha.
² Departments of Neurosurgery, Weill Cornell Medical College, Ar-Rayyan, Qatar.
³ Departments of Neurosurgery, Michigan State University, Michigan, USA.

Abstract

Background: Type 2 odontoid fractures are the most common type of fracture of the axis. In rare cases, nonunion of a type 2 odontoid fracture can be hypertrophic resulting in myelopathy due to cervical cord compression.

Case description: A 48-year-old male presented with hypertrophic nonunion of a chronic type 2 odontoid fracture resulting in cord compression/myelopathy. This was adequately treated utilizing a C1 decompression and C1-3 instrumented fusion; no anterior procedure was necessary.

Conclusion: Here, we successfully treated a patient with a hypertrophic nonunion of a chronic type 2 odontoid fracture utilizing a posterior only approach consisting of a C1 laminectomy with C1-C3 fusion.

Keywords: Fracture; Hypertrophic; Myelopathy; Non-union; Odontoid.

Publication types

Case Reports