title: Occipital condyle fracture in a victim of a motor vehicle collision.
abstract: Occipital condyle fractures are rarely reported in the Emergency Medicine literature. It is unclear whether these fractures are rare or under-diagnosed. Occipital condyle fractures are associated with high-energy blunt trauma with significant cranial-cervical torque or axial loading. We report a case of a female patient with an occipital condyle fracture. The patient only complained of shoulder pain, but was found to have high cervical spine tenderness, after a moderate-speed front-end motor vehicle collision. Initial cervical spine radiographs were non-diagnostic. Computed tomography of the cervical spine demonstrated a non-displaced occipital condyle fracture. Conservative management with a semi-rigid cervical collar was successful in treating this patient's fracture. A review of the literature covers the diagnosis, radiographic findings, and management of this fracture.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, Richmond, Virginia, USA.
authors.forename: Hani O
authors.initials: HO
authors.lastname: Mowafi
authors.forename: Kenneth S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Hickey
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005592:Fracture Fixation / Q000379:methods; D050723:Fractures, Bone / Q000145:classification / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000628:therapy*; D016489:Head Injuries, Closed / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D009777:Occipital Bone / Q000293:injuries*; D012887:Skull Fractures / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000628:therapy*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed