Cervical facet dislocation

Mechanism and manifestations

Neck pain, deformity, weakness or sensory changes may occur. Bilateral and unilateral dislocations differ, but both require urgent assessment.

Diagnosis and management

Assessment includes imaging and repeated neurological examination. A specialist team may perform reduction and stabilization with appropriate precautions. This is never a displacement to correct with routine manipulation.

Points to consider

After trauma, pain intensity and injury severity are not always proportional. Mechanism, level, neurological status and stability guide care. New weakness, sensory loss, breathing difficulty or impaired walking requires urgent assessment.

Role of TAGMED care

With acute symptoms, urgent hospital assessment takes priority. This condition first requires medical diagnosis and, depending on the situation, specialist management. TAGMED services do not replace treatment of infection or tumor, stabilization of an unstable injury, or neurological or vascular treatment. Any conservative support should be considered only after diagnosis, restrictions and the treating team’s recommendations have been clarified.

Related concepts and distinctions

These concepts belong to the same field, but are not synonyms.

• Cervical teardrop fracture — Cervical fracture with a teardrop-shaped anteroinferior bone fragment, occurring through different mechanisms with variable stability.
• Cervical sprain — Injury to neck ligaments or a joint capsule when mechanical tolerance is exceeded, with variable severity.
• Hangman fracture — Bilateral fracture through the C2 pars region, sometimes associated with C2–C3 displacement and disc-ligament injury.

Medical references

1. AO Foundation. AO Surgery Reference — Occipitocervical trauma.
2. AO Spine. AO Spine classification systems.

References document the topic; their inclusion does not imply endorsement of TAGMED services by those organizations.