Occipital condyle fracture presenting as retropharyngeal hematoma

Reported is the case of a 30-year-old male motorcycle accident victim who was found on plain cervical-spine radiography to have prevertebral soft-tissue swelling. Although subsequent computed tomography demonstrated no cervical-spine fracture, it did reveal a fracture of one occipital condyle. The mechanism, diagnosis, and treatment of occipital condyle fractures are reviewed, as is the ligamentous and fascial anatomy of the cervicocranium. Dissection of fracture hematoma inferiorly along vertically oriented tissue planes is hypothesized as the pathogenesis of our patient's retropharyngeal hematoma. In addition to being a sign of potential cervical-spine injury, post-traumatic prevertebral soft-tissue swelling may also indicate occipital condyle fracture. To avoid overlooking such fractures, computed tomography undertaken to investigate upper cervical-spine prevertebral soft-tissue swelling should always include slices up to the level of the basal skull so as to visualize the condyles.