Wheeless' Textbook of Orthopaedics Main Menu Home Page Traumatic spondylolisthesis of the axis. A series of 123 patients suffering traumatic spondylolisthesis of the axis is reported. This lesion is associated with extension and axial loading injury, and there is a high incidence of injuries of the face or scalp and of associated fractures of the upper cervical spine. There is a low incidence of neurological injury, which seems paradoxical in the presence of what appears to be gross instability, but protection from extremes of flexion and extension may be adequate treatment.
Union is usual regardless of displacement.
Traction is a safe means of treatment, but early waking in a halo support reduces time in hospital without jeopardizing the result.