Clark S, et al. - In order to evaluate 30-day and 1-year mortality rates, and the most common complications seen with with posterior C1–2 fusion among octogenarians, researchers retrospectively analyzed a cohort of 43 consecutive patients (25 female and 18 male; mean age 84.3 years) who underwent posterior C1-C2 fusion for management of unstable type II odontoid fracture by four fellowship-trained spine surgeons at a single institution between January 2006 to June 2016. Findings suggest that in this patient population, posterior C1–2 fusion results in acceptably low mortality rates vs nonoperative management mortality rates in current literature. These patients showed a higher mortality rate in association with initial fracture displacement. The most common complications were altered mental status, dysphagia, with 50% of those patients requiring a feeding tube, and emergency reintubation.