ABSTRACT
Objective In this study,we aim to evaluate the risk and incidence of traumatic cervical spinal cord injury (CSCI) in patients with traumatic cervical spinal canal stenosis (CSCS) without major fracture or dislocation,and evaluate the feasibility of preventive decompression surgery. Methods This study included eighty?seven patients with traumatic CSCI without major fracture or dislocation treated in our department between 2005 and 2012. Mann?Whitney U test was used for statistical analyses. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to calculate the relative and absolute risks for the incidence of traumatic CSCI without major fracture or dislocation related with CSCS. Results The relative risk for the incidence of traumatic CSCI with CSCS was 145.7 times higher than that for the incidence without CSCS. However ,only 0.000026% of patients with CSCS may be able to avoid developing traumatic CSCI if they underwent decompression surgery before trauma. Conclusions Prophylactic surgical management for CSCS might not significantly affect the incidence of traumatic CSCI.