Management of traumatic atlanto-occipital dislocation in a 10-year-old with noninvasive halo immobilization: A case report

BACKGROUND: Traumatic atlanto-occipital dislocation is an unstable injury of the craniocervical junction. For pediatric patients, surgical arthrodesis of the occipitocervical junction is the recommended management. While having a high success rate for stabilization, the fusion comes with obvious morbidity of limitation in cervical spine flexion, extension, and rotation. An alternative is external immobilization with a conventional halo. CASE DESCRIPTION: We describe the case of a 10-year-old boy who was treated successfully for traumatic AOD with a noninvasive pinless halo. Following initial brain trauma management, we immobilized the craniocervical junction with a pinless halo after reducing the atlanto-occipital dislocation. The pinless halo was kept on at all times for the next 3 months. The craniocervical junction alignment was monitored with weekly cervical spine X-rays and CT craniocervical junction on day 15(th), day 30(th), and day 70(th). A follow-up MRI C-spine 3 months from presentation confirmed resolution of the soft-tissue injury and the pinless halo was removed. Dynamic cervical spine X-rays revealed satisfactory alignment in both flexion and extension views. The patient has been followed up for 2 years postinjury and no issues were identified. CONCLUSION: Noninvasive pinless halo is a potential treatment option for traumatic pediatric atlanto-occipital dislocation. This should be considered bearing in mind multiple factors including age and weight of the patient, severity of the atlanto-occipital dislocation (Grade I vs. Grade II and incomplete vs. complete), concomitant skull and scalp injury, and patient’s ability to tolerate the halo. It is vital to emphasize that this necessitates close clinicoradiological monitoring.