Early surgery for acute injuries of cervical spinal cord / 中华创伤骨科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To study the clinical results of early surgery for acute cervical spinal cord injury. Methods 24 cases of acute cervical spinal cord injury were treated with early surgery in our hospital from 1999 to 2002. The average interval from injury to surgery was 67 hours. The injured cervical segments were reduced, decompressed and fixed through anterior approach, posterior approach or anterior posterior approach. Results 22 cases got follow ups of 12 to 38 months (mean 18 months), but 2 cases were lost. 2 cases of the 11 patients of ASIA Grade A did not experience any restoration, but all the other patients got significant restoration and an average improvement of 1.8 ASIA grades. Conclusion Operation should be performed as soon as possible for acute cervical spinal cord injury, for good results can be achieved by early surgery.