Traumatic Posterior Atlanto-occipital Dislocation With Three-part Jefferson Fracture and Subaxial Distractive Extension Injury

Abstract

No previous reports have described combined upper and lower cervical injuries caused by a contrary injury mechanism.A 44-year-old man was transferred complaining of quadriplegia caused by a rear-end collision car accident. CT and MRI findings revealed posterior atlanto-occipital dislocation (AOD) with three-part Jefferson fracture and subaxial distractive extension (DE) injury at the C3-4 and C6-7 levels. MRI showed spinal cord injury at C3-4 and C6-7, which caused quadriplegia and respiratory failure.When the patient arrived at the emergency department, he was already intubated because of respiratory failure. The patient was also hemodynamically unstable after lung injury and pelvic bone fracture. The patient died 1 day after the accident before undergoing surgical intervention.To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a case of a traumatic posterior AOD with three-part Jefferson fracture and subaxial DE injury caused by a contrary injury mechanism. Subaxial DE injury, not posterior AOD, caused fatal situation in this case. High index of suspicion and careful radiologic examination are needed to investigate the presence of associated lower cervical spine injury caused by a contrary injury mechanism in traumatic posterior AOD, which may affect treatment, outcome, and prognosis.