What Factors Influence the Final Outcome in Occipital Condyle Fractures?

Abstract Introduction  Diagnosis of occipital condyle fracture (OCF) following a trauma needs high awareness among the trauma surgeons. Aim  In our study, we attempt to discern if any factor or a combination of factors influences the final outcome following OCF. Materials and Methods  We prospectively analyzed the outcome in OCF patients admitted during 2017 to 2019 at our center. We had 14 patients with polytrauma with OCF. Among them two were lost for follow-up. So, 12 patients were followed up for 6 months after injury. The following 10 factors were analyzed—age, sex, injury, Glasgow Coma Scale, Injury Severity Score, spinal injury, associated injuries, blood pressure, medical conditions, and surgical intervention. Outcome was divided into good and poor outcomes. Chi-squared test was used. All these patients were treated conservatively for OCF for 3 months. Results  There was no significant factor, since p -value was greater than 0.05 for all variables. Only Injury Severity Score (0.091) was close to the significant p -value. Seven patients had severe head injuries and among them one died and four had the worst outcome. Among the five patients who had spinal injuries, only two had good outcomes. Conclusion  Our results indicate that the outcome following OCF is not determined by any single factor. Injury Severity Score comes close to determining the final outcome. This indicates that the overall patient management especially of associated injuries is the determining factor in the outcome in patients who had sustained OCF.