Fracture of the anterior arch of atlas after minor trauma of the immature spine postlaminectomy.
Torticollis is a common complaint in the pediatric emergency department. Here, we report what we believe to be the first example in a young child of a fracture of the anterior arch of the atlas associated with an acquired, postsurgical defect of the posterior arch. A brief review of pediatric cervical spine injuries and fractures is presented. Atlas laminectomy may predispose patients to isolated atlas fractures even with minor trauma. Those fractures, however, are stable and treated by hard cervical orthosis.
From the *Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center Main Hospital, Richmond, VA; †Department of Emergency Medicine, Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, Wilmington, DE; ‡Jefferson Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA; and §Division of Neurosurgery, Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, Wilmington, DE.
Aline
A
Baghdassarian
Joseph H
JH
Piatt
Katie
K
Giordano
D000058:Accidental Falls; D001270:Cervical Atlas / Q000293:injuries*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007796:Laminectomy; D016103:Spinal Fractures / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed