Surgical Management of Subaxial Cervical Spine Trauma: A Case Report

These days, as a consequence of the improvement in technology and increase in the use of motor vehicles, spine injuries have become common. Spine traumas, which often occur after motor vehicle accidents, are observed mostly in cervical regions, particularly in the subaxial cervical region, which is also known as the subcervical region, and neurological damage occurs in 70% of the patients. Despite still being controversial, the common ranging for neurological evaluation is the American Spinal Injury Association ranging, which includes the motor and sensory loss and accordingly, the impairment rate. In subaxial cervical traumas, acute neurological deterioration is an indication and therefore requires urgent surgical treatment. The choice of anterior or posterior approach substantially depends on the traumatization mechanism, affected tissues, and neurological deterioration occurring after. The state of patient and instability are the most two important factors affecting the treatment decision. Although the anterior approach is accepted as a routinely available and easily applicable surgical technique, it lacks in the burst fractures involving the three colons, which shows a stabilization disorder. The anterior plate screw technique and posterior lateral mass screw application applied in our clinic are reviewed in literature and are discussed in two cases. Although the best clinical results are achieved in cases where only anterior surgery is performed and in cases where instability is excessive, in unstable compression and blow-out fractures, even if neurological deficit and three colon involvement are not observed in the patient, the requirement of posterior fusion is observed.