Understanding Cervical Flexion Instability After a Car Accident

Not every neck injury from a car accident shows up clearly on a standard X-ray. Dr. Capoferri co-authored a peer-reviewed case report published through the National Institutes of Health's National Library of Medicine (MedPix) examining exactly this kind of injury: cervical flexion instability following a motor vehicle collision.The case: “Post MVC Cervical Flexion Instability at C3 on C4, Apical Odontoid Ligament Partial Avulsion,” published January 29, 2024, co-authored by Donald Capoferri, DC, with Mark Studin, DC, Randall Loftus, MD, John Strom, DC, and Geoffrey Gerow, DC.In plain terms: the case documents a patient whose neck ligaments were partially torn in a crash, allowing excess forward-bending (flexion) movement between two vertebrae (C3 and C4) that wasn't obvious without the right diagnostic imaging and biomechanical analysis. This kind of instability can be easy to miss if an evaluation stops at "does the X-ray look normal?" — it often takes flexion/extension imaging and a clinician trained to interpret biomechanical motion, not just static anatomy.This is part of why a thorough post-accident evaluation matters, even when initial imaging looks unremarkable. If you've been in a car accident and still have neck pain, stiffness, or a sense of instability, read more about what a thorough spinal injury evaluation includes.Source: Capoferri D, Studin M, Loftus R, Strom J, Gerow G. “Post MVC Cervical Flexion Instability at C3 on C4, Apical Odontoid Ligament Partial Avulsion.” MedPix, National Institutes of Health / National Library of Medicine. Published January 29, 2024.