Delayed surgical treatment of bilateral cervical facet joint dislocations

Abstract

Few cases of patients with bilateral cervical facet dislocations which remained undiagnosed and, hence, untreated, have been described in literature.We present 3 cases of bilateral facet joint dislocation with delayed diagnosis of over six months, with no neurological deficits, that were surgically reduced and fixed using a posterior-anterior-posterior approach. The presence of a bone fusion at the level of the deformity entailed the need to perform posterior and anterior releases, reduction and stabilization, by a combined approach. We emphasize the importance of early recognition of potentially unstable cervical injuries, in order to minimize the risk of developing subsequent deformity and neurological impairment, and avoid the need for technically demanding salvage surgical procedures.