In trauma to the cervical spine generally one motion segment is disturbed or two adjacent vertebral bodies are fractured and deformed. Rarely the cervical spine is disrupted with three or four vertebral bodies being burst open. Reconstruction in such cases is carried out by using a vascular pedicle located at the junction of lower one third and middle one third of the fibula.

Following excision of burst vertebrae and decompression of the cord, the fibular graft with vascular pedicle is locked in position and if necessary, further stabilized with metallic implants.The artery is anastomosed to the superior thyroid artery and vein is anastomosed to the external jugular vein. The vascular Autograft then achieves good osteosynthesis. The technique, although useful, is time consuming and needs team work and careful post operative management.

Unstable spine stabilized with author's technique

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