PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Andrew Kelly
AU  - Richard Parrish
TI  - Fracture of the occipital condyle: the forgotten part of the neck
AID  - 10.1136/emj.17.3.220
DP  - 2000 May 01
TA  - Journal of Accident & Emergency Medicine
PG  - 220--221
VI  - 17
IP  - 3
4099  - http://emj.bmj.com/content/17/3/220.short
4100  - http://emj.bmj.com/content/17/3/220.full
SO  - Arch Emerg Med2000 May 01; 17
AB  - A case of occipital condylar fracture in a multiply injured and unconscious motorcyclist is reported. This injury was clinically unsuspected but found on the lowest cuts of head computed tomography. It is shown that this site is often inadequately imaged when scanning the head and neck in victims of trauma. The Anderson and Montesano classification of occipital condylar fracture is described. It is noted that types 1 and 2 are stable injuries but type 3 is potentially unstable. A retrospective analysis of 30 head computed tomography scans in trauma cases revealed that in only 16 were the occipital condyles adequately imaged. It is emphasised that vigilance is required to detect fractures of the occipital condyle and that it should be standard practice to include this area when performing computed tomography of the head in trauma victims.