title: Vertebral artery injury and severely displaced odontoid fracture: the case for early reduction.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To report a novel treatment method for vertebral artery occlusion. Vertebral artery injuries have a high association with specific cervical fractures including atlanto-axial fractures, displaced fracture patterns, and transverse foramen fractures. Optimal medical management of the occluded vertebral artery has yet to be determined; however, there is an extremely high complication rate with systemic anticoagulation in these patients. Furthermore, unlike appendicular skeleton fracture-dislocations with vascular injury, there is no clear consensus as to the optimal acute management of the displaced odontoid fracture with or without vertebral artery injury.
  
  
  METHODS
  We report on a severely displaced odontoid fracture that was found to have a vertebral artery injury. Medical records and imaging were reviewed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  An 82-year-old female presented to our hospital with a type IIb odontoid fracture after sustaining a ground-level fall. Pertinent physical exam findings were ecchymosis on the left side of her forehead and posterior cervical pain without neurologic deficits. An MRA showed an occluded left vertebral artery. The patient was placed in early cervical traction and the fracture was reduced within 12 h of presentation. Following surgical stabilization, an MR angiogram showed complete reperfusion of the vertebral artery without intimal tear.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  To our knowledge, this is the first report of a displaced odontoid fracture in which cervical traction was used to restore the perfusion of the vertebral artery. Cervical traction may obviate the need for systemic anticoagulation and should be considered in patients who have an identifiable compression of the vertebral artery even if neurologically intact.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Pennsylvania, 3400 Spruce St., Silverstein 2, Philadelphia, PA, 19143, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Sullivan
authors.forename: John D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: McCormick
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Arlet
mesh_terms: D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009809:Odontoid Process / Q000293:injuries*; D016103:Spinal Fractures / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D014143:Traction; D015599:Trauma Severity Indices; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014711:Vertebral Artery / Q000293:injuries*; D014715:Vertebrobasilar Insufficiency / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*