Physiologic anterior subluxation: Case report of occurrence at C5 to C6 and C6 to C7 spinal levels

Physiologic anterior subluxation is a phenomenon that is common to the upper pediatric cervical spine and characterized by the normal forward displacement of one cervical vertebra relative to the subjacent one. Physiologic anterior subluxation can be seen in children in the setting of trauma, when it must be distinguished from pathologic subluxation. Physiologic anterior subluxation has not been reported at lower cervical spinal levels (C5 to C6 or C6 to C7). This is a report of physiologic anterior subluxation at C5 to C6 and C6 to C7 spinal levels distinguished from pathologic subluxation in a 9-year-old child evaluated in the acute setting after cervical spine injury.