Occipitocervical Instability

A 42-year-old woman is brought to the emergency department following a motor vehicle accident. She has sustained multiple injuries and she is intubated and pharmacologically paralyzed. CT scans reveal an occipitocervical dissociation with subluxation of the occipitOCervical joints bilaterally. Definitive management should consist of an occip itocervical fusion with instrumentation.