A Clinical Study of the Spine Injury / 대한정형외과학회잡지

ABSTRACT

In recent years the rate of the spine Injury tends to be on the increase year by year as the rate of traffic and industrial accidents are increased. During industrial, sports and automobile accidents are occurred, the various forces were exerted by the mechanism, “flexion, extension, flexlon-rotation, vertlcal compression and shearing.” These exercise their effects on the vertebral bodies, the neural arches and intervertebral disc and the contents of the spinal cord, depending on direction and intensity of the trauma, and the posture and muscular attitude existent at the movement. Once the neurological Iesion has been diagnosised and the type of vertebral injury has been established and particularly after a decision has been made as to whether the spinal injury is stable or unstable, a rational method of treatment can be decised upon Our treatment consists of providing the best condition for recovery from the spine injury, preventlng further neurologlcal damage in the unstable area, achieving stable bone and llgament heallng ln satisfactory position, preventing metabolic compllcations from being fatal, mobllizing the patient early, and rehabilitating to provide maximum fuctlonal independence with the remaining-muscle power avallablc to the cord injury patient. One hundred and fifty seven spine fracture and dislocation patients were clinically observed and evaluated from Jan. 1972 to Dec. 1978 in our study. The result of this study may be summerized as follows 1. Out of the patients, there were 135 male and 22 female cases. The ratio between male and female was 6.11. The majority (84.7%) of the spine injuries was found in the age of 20 to 50 years. Fifty-two percent of the cases was caused by industrial accidents. 2. The most common site of the lesion occurred between T-11 and L-2 vertebrae (71.8%). 3. In cervical injury, fracture dislocation type was most common (50%), and especially, pure dislocation by extension mechanism was 12.5% but in thoracolumbar iniury, simple anterior wedge compression fracture was most common (66.6%) and there were no pure dislocations just like cervical spine injury cases. 4. Fifty seven cases of the total were complicated by paraplegia, of which 62.5% in cervical region and 31.6% in thoracolumbar region were noticed. The most frequent type of the injury in which paraplegia developed was the fracture dislocation (73.8%) and the most common site of the lesion was between the T-12 and the L-2 vertebrae. 5. Open reduction was performed in 9 cases out of 24 cervical spine injury patients and in 41 cases out of 133 thoracolumbar injury patients. 6. Prognosis of neurologic recovery in initially complete lesion was poor, regardness of treatment. In the cervical lesion cases there were no patients who were recovered. But in the other sites about 10.5% of initially complete lesion showed partial neural recovery comparing to 62.5% of initially incomplete lesions. 7. Progressive deformity is often noted as a complication of spine fracture or dislocation when solid fusion fails to develop. The increment of kyphosis after treatment is as follows Simple wedge fracture