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We report a rare case of a young moped rider who suffered atlanto-occipital dislocation. He survived with tetraplegia. We discuss the accident mechanism, the anatomical particulars, and the clinical features and compare our operative treatment with the cases described in the literature.

The purpose of this article is to evaluate the incidence and to give a general review of the examination of the posterior ligament complex. At least ca. 8-10 % of all severe ligament injuries concern the posterior cruciate ligament, which means, that an estimated 4,000-5,000 Germans suffer a PCL rupture every year. Motor-vehicle accidents are the most common cause of the injury, but sports-related traumas (football, skiing) have increased in recent years. The high number of high-energy mechanisms involved (up to 90 %), cause ligament ruptures often to be associated with other injuries, especially fractures of the femur and tibia head. In polytrauma patients PCL ruptures are frequently recognized very late, because the possibility of this kind of injury is often not considered during the clinical examination. The same holds for the diagnosis of monotrauma patients. The initial step in the evaluation is to obtain a thorough history (including the mechanism of injury) and to perform a physical examination. The instability after a PCL rupture may present as an ACL rupture, because the anterior drawer test seems to be positive. The anterior/posterior drawer test must be assessed with other evaluation procedures to distinguish between anterior und posterior instabilities. The posterior sag sign, the quadriceps active test or the reversed pivot-shift may indicate a PCL rupture. A correct roentgenogram can reveal an avulsion of the tibia and can prove posterior instability due to a posterior translation of the tibia. A quantitative examination (clinical or X-ray) of the instability and the indication of combined injury of the posterior cruciate ligament and the posterolateral complex are necessary for the therapeutic decision (operative/conservative). A rupture of the PCL may occur occasionally as a result of a luxation of the knee (reduced spontaneously) before the medical evaluation. A thorough neurovascular examination is essential. Magnetic resonance imaging can be important to the diagnosis of an acute injury, but it is not essential for the choice between operative and non-operative treatment. Arthroscopy has been found to have a high degree of accuracy in the diagnosis of ligament ruptures of the knee, but it is still an operative treatment, so that it can only be used if an operation of repair or reconstruction is planned anyway. Before operative treatment of chronic complex instability, potential osseous abnormalities (varus morphotype) must be revealed; in case of uncertainty, an X-ray control is necessary.

In the treatment of femoral and tibial fractures the frontal and sagittal planes are controlled and documented by conventional X-ray films. Computed tomography permits exact measurement of the coronal plane. Between June 1993 and December 1997, 161 computed tomographic measurements of femoral torsion and 55 of tibial torsion after shaft fracture were carried out. The results were analyzed in a clinical study. A CT examination was carried out if the clinical examination aroused suspicion of a difference in torsion. 28.5% of the patients examined with femoral fractures and 23.8% of those with tibial fractures and torsion differences of more than 20 degrees. Between June 1993 and June 1997, 30 corrective derotating osteotomies of the femur and 9 of the tibia were carried out. The average preoperative difference of torsion of the femur was 29 degrees and of the tibia 25 degrees. After the operation the average femur difference was 7 degrees and of the lower leg 6.5 degrees, which are inside normal physiological limits. The osteotomies were carried out in the metaphysis near the fracture. Additional corrections in other planes were necessary on the femur in 27% and on the lower leg in 46%. With the aim of avoiding torsion differences, or at least to recognize them at an early stage, CT measurements of torsion after osteosythetic treatment of fresh unilateral femur-shaft fractures were carried out in 49 patients between October 1996 and December 1997. The torsion measurements during the operations had to be carried out clinically. No sufficiently exact method of measurement is available in the operating room. Three patients with increased differences of 28 degrees, 26 degrees or 19 degrees had their osteosyntheses corrected. The measurements after correction were inside the normal spread.

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