Figure - PMC

Skip to main content

An official website of the United States government

Here's how you know

Here's how you know

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

View full-text article in PMC

. 2020 Sep 30;17(3):574–584. doi: 10.14245/ns.2040496.248

Search in PMC
Search in PubMed
View in NLM Catalog
Add to search

Copyright © 2020 by the Korean Spinal Neurosurgery Society

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

PMC Copyright notice

Fig. 3. — Steps in facet joint release and cage implantation in a patient with basilar invagination (BI) and atlantoaxial dislocation (AAD). (A) The joints are bilaterally distracted using a joint loosening tool, and the anterior muscles and ligaments are released. (B) The articular cartilage is widely removed using a joint facet scraper. The size of the spacer depends on the available space within the distracted joint space. (C) Customized lateral mass intervertebral fusion cages, which are tapered at one end for easier placement, are inserted in the joint space. (D) The C2 pedicle screws are placed. Use of the cantilever technique further reduces the horizontal dislocation and adjusts the Oc–C2 angle. (E) A computed tomography (CT) scan shows severe BI-AAD. (F) The intraoperative parasagittal CT image shows the joints with spacers in situ. (G) The intraoperative sagittal CT image shows that the BI and AAD are well reduced.