Odontoid Type II fractures in elderly: what are the real management goals and how to best achieve them? A multicenter European study on functional outcome.

Fiche publication

Date publication

février 2022

Journal

Neurosurgical review

Auteurs

Membres identifiés du Cancéropôle Est :
Dr CEBULA Hélène , Pr PROUST François

Tous les auteurs :
Chibbaro S, Mallereau CH, Ganau M, Zaed I, Teresa Bozzi M, Scibilia A, Cebula H, Ollivier I, Loit MP, Chaussemy D, Coca HA, Dannhoff G, Romano A, Nannavecchia B, Gubian A, Spatola G, Signorelli F, Iaccarino C, Pop R, Proust F, Baloglu S, Todeschi J

Lien Pubmed

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34232408

Résumé

Odontoid fractures constitute the most common cervical fractures in elderly. External immobilization is the treatment of choice for Type I and III; there is still no wide consensus about the best management of Type II fractures. Observational multicenter study was conducted on a prospectively built database on elderly patients (> 75 years) with Type II odontoid fracture managed conservatively during the last 10 years. All patients underwent CT scan on admission and at 3 months; if indicated, selected patient had CT scan at 6 and 12 months. All patients were clinically evaluated by Neck Disability Index (NDI), Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), and American Society of Anaesthesiologists classification (ASA) on admission; NDI was assessed also at 6 weeks, 3, 6, 12, and 24 months; furthermore, a quality of life (QoL) assessment with the SF-12 form was performed at 3 and 12 months. Among the 260 patients enrolled, 177 (68%) were women and 83 (32%) men, with a median age of 83 years. Patients were followed up for a minimum of 24 months: 247 (95%) showed an excellent functional outcome within 6 weeks, among them 117 (45%) showed a good bony healing, whereas 130 (50%) healed in pseudo-arthrosis. The residual 5% were still variably symptomatic at 12 weeks; however, only 5 out of 13 (2% of the total cohort) required delayed surgery. This study showed that a conservative approach to odontoid Type II fracture in elderly is an effective and valid option, resulting in an excellent functional outcome (regardless of bony fusion) in the majority of cases. Failure of conservative treatment can be safely addressed with surgical fixation at a later stage.