title: Delayed surgical treatment for a traumatic bilateral cervical facet joint dislocation using a posterior-anterior approach: a case report.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There have been few reports of patients with bilateral cervical facet dislocations that remain untreated for eight weeks or more. We report the case of a 76-year-old man with an old bilateral cervical facet joint dislocation fracture that was treated by posterior-anterior reduction and fixation.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 76-year-old Asian man was involved in a road traffic accident. He presented with neck pain and arm pain on his right side, but motor weakness and paralysis were not observed. He was treated conservatively; however, instability and spondylolisthesis at the C5 to C6 joint increased eight weeks after the injury. We performed a posterior-anterior reduction and fixation. After surgery, bony union was achieved, and his neck pain and arm pain disappeared.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We recommend reduction and fixation surgery if a patient has an old bilateral facet joint dislocation fracture in the cervical spine.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo-ku, Chiba, 260-8670, Japan. sohtori@faculty.chiba-u.jp.
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shimada
authors.forename: Seiji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ohtori
authors.forename: Gen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: Junichi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Izumi
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Nakada
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Saiki
authors.forename: Song Ho
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Koui
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kawamura
authors.forename: Kazuhisa
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sugiyama