Fracture of the odontoid and particularly type II, is the commonest injury in the upper cervical spine. In the past, it was presumed to cause by high velocity road traffic accidents. But now, with the increase in the number of two-wheeler vehicles and sub-standard conditions of indian roads, this type of injury is common. It is usually caused by hyper-extension of the neck but, can be caused by hyper-flexion. The surgical management has remained controversial.
Material and methods
Data was collected from four centres in Maharashtra- India. In one centre, the treatment was posterior C1-C2 stabilization with screws and plate. In centre two, odontoid fracture line was fixed by anterior screws. In the third centre, Magerel technique was used. The fourth centre believed in direct anterior screw and plate fixation of the fracture line.
Analysis
The number of patients operated upon, were too less in each centre to analyse and compare with each other. As a result, use of software analysis was not felt necessary which is in fact the need to assess the best technique which can be used to treat this fracture.
Results
No definite conclusion could be arrived at by studying the pattern of treatment in these four centres.
Conclusion
Way back in 2009, an attempt was made to do a multi-centre retrospective analysis. There was no definite conclusion and even in the present study, no definite conclusion is derived.
How to cite this article
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