Odontoid fracture that is not listed in the existing classifications

Abstract

Background: There is a significant variety of odontoid fracture classifications along with corresponding treatment strategies. There are though cases which cannot be framed within the existing classifications. Clinical presentation: We report the case of a 91 years old female patient who suffered a cervical trauma secondary to a ground level fall. The cervical CT scan revealed a particular type of odontoid fracture, unframeable within existing classifications. The fracture line was at the base of the odontoid process and continued in an oblique trajectory through the right pedicle of the axis. As treatment strategy, we opted for external immobilization in a Minerva jacket and, after 3 months, the patient is symptom free, with partial bone fusion. Conclusion: We named this rare case of odontoid fracture type II B for which external immobilization seems sufficient.

Keywords

• odontoid fracture
• classification types
• external immobilization