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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian Journal of Neurosurgery 2022; 11(01): 013-018
DOI: 10.1055/s-0040-1721237
Original Article

Atlantoaxial Dislocation: Surgical Outcome following Anterior Retropharyngeal Approach to Odontoid with or without Fixation

Manpreet Singh Banga 
1   Department of Neurosurgery, Vydehi Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Whitefield, Bangalore, Karnataka, India
,
B.V. Sandeep 
1   Department of Neurosurgery, Vydehi Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Whitefield, Bangalore, Karnataka, India
,
Suniti Kumar Saha
2   Department of Neurosurgery, Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
,
Kaushik Roy
2   Department of Neurosurgery, Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
,
Sourabh Dixit 
2   Department of Neurosurgery, Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
,
Partha Ghosh 
2   Department of Neurosurgery, Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
› Author Affiliations Funding None.
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Abstract

Introduction Atlantoaxial dislocation (AAD) refers to a loss of stability between the atlas and axis vertebra. The conventional transoral approach and the anterior retropharyngeal approach (ARPA) are adequate for the upper cervical vertebral segments. This study was undertaken to evaluate the usefulness of the ARPA to the odontoid in patients of AAD.

Materials and Methods The study was undertaken on 20 patients admitted in Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata, India, with functional disability secondary to AAD. These patients underwent surgery through ARPA to odontoid with or without fixation. Patients were analyzed between October 2014 and September 2016.

Results Maximum number of patients belonged to third decade of life. The male to female ratio was 1.5. The mean duration of symptoms was 10.86 months. Weakness of the upper and lower limbs predominated. About 65% patients had axial neck pain. Nine patients (45%) in total had difficulty in either bowel or bladder. Five patients presented with fracture odontoid and pannus formation of the odontoid process, while six had basilar invagination. One patient underwent anterior odontoid screw fixation and the other 19 patients underwent anterior retropharyngeal odontoidectomy with posterior fixation. Two patients expired in the present study. Most of the patients had improvement in Nurick grade during follow-up. Five patients had transient throat pain and dysphagia. Three patients had superficial surgical site infection. One patient had postoperative cerebrospinal fluid leak.

Conclusion The ARPA to odontoid is a feasible approach for decompression and fixation of the odontoid in AAD cases.

Keywords

atlantoaxial dislocation - anterior retropharyngeal - Nurick grade


Publication History

Article published online:
07 May 2021

© 2021. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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