Abstract

ULLOA, Máximo  and  FERNANDEZ, Maria. Luxação unifacetária cervical: Um lado é suficiente. Rev. Port. Ortop. Traum. [online]. 2015, vol.23, n.1, pp.33-39. ISSN 1646-2122.

Unilateral cervical facet injuries are a full spectrum of injuries, so several management pathways may be followed. If no major injury to the disk (as seen on MRI) and in the presence of ipsilateral radiculopathy a posterior unilateral, minimally invasive approach is proposed. Patients and methods: a series of 8 consecutive patients (7 C6C7; 1 C4C5) with unilateral cervical facet injury with concordant radiculopathy treated by unilateral posterior approach with reccess opening, root release and lateral mass/pedicular screw osteosynthesis plus spinolaminar ipsilateral arthrodesis with posterior iliac graft is presented. Results: surgery brought about immediate recovery from radicualr symptoms, with full return to previous activity level in a few months and no reoperations (except for a single case with screw-hook synthesis instead of 2 screws) after a mean follow-up of 9 years (1-12 y). Conclusion: in a patient with unilateral cervical facet injury with radiculopathy and no major disc injury in the MRI, a posterior unilateral approach is advocated.

Keywords : Spinal injuries; cervical spine; spinal fractures; spinal dislocations; unilateral; radiculopathy; radiculitis; fracture fixation.

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