title: Traction Induced Vertical Displacement of Odontoid due to Type III Odontoid Fracture with Unrecognized Ligamentous Injury: A Case Report.
abstract: Dens fractures are a common traumatic cervical spine injury. Among them, a type III fracture is the second common fracture. Although there are several treatment options, it has been accepted that type III fracture is usually healed by non-surgical method. After adequate reduction with traction, subsequent external immobilization has been associated with successful union rates. However, in the review of literatures, there are some cases with neurological deterioration after application of skull traction. So, the authors report a case of type III dens fracture with initially unrecognized ligamentous injury in which vertical dissociation and quadriplegia occurred after only five-pound Gardner-Well tongs traction. And also, the authors raise awareness of this potentially injury.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Chonnam National University Hospital, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Min-Ho
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Chonnam National University Hospital, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Jung-Kil
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Chonnam National University Hospital, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyuk
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hur
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Chonnam National University Hospital, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Jae-Won
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Chonnam National University Hospital, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Jae-Hyoo
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Chonnam National University Hospital, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Soo-Han
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kim
keywords: Cervical vertebrae; Fracture fixation internal; Traction