Physiotherapeutic Approach Towards Sensory and Motor Recovery in a Patient With Lateral Mass Fixation: A Report of a Rare Case

This case report discusses the physiotherapeutic management of a 23-year-old female patient who underwent C1-C2 lateral mass fixation surgery after being diagnosed with atlantoaxial dislocation (AAD). The patient presented with weakness, tingling sensation, and numbness in both upper and lower limbs along with imbalance while walking. Post-operatively, the patient was referred to physiotherapy for rehabilitation. The physiotherapy intervention focused on improving muscle strength, reducing tingling and numbness, enhancing cervical range of motion, facilitating bed transfers, increasing mobility, regaining balance, and improving gait. The patient's quality of life and daily functioning were positively affected after undergoing early intervention as measured by the Functional Independence Measure, Neck Disability Index, Berg Balance Scale, and Dynamic Gait Index.

• 1
  Early physiotherapy intervention post-C1-C2 lateral mass fixation positively affected the patient's quality of life and daily functioning.
• 2
  The patient showed improvement in muscle strength, as indicated by the increase in Manual Muscle Testing (MMT) scores post-rehabilitation.
• 3
  Outcome measures such as the Functional Independence Measure, Neck Disability Index, Berg Balance Scale, and Dynamic Gait Index demonstrated significant improvement after physiotherapy intervention.