ABSTRACT
Objective To evaluate the clinical effect of early anterior approach operation with internal fixation in treating traumatic cervical disc herniation patients with cervical spinal cord injury.Methods Twenty-three patients with spinal cord injury caused by acute cervical disc herniation,admitted to our hospital from January 2010 to January 2011,were chosen in our study; all patients underwent anterior cervical surgery with the application of titanium mesh plate and cage to perform decompression and reconstruction; 14 patients received surgery within 72 h of injury and other 9 adopted surgery after 72 h of injury.The clinical data and postoperative recovery degree of the spinal cord injury were retrospectively analyzed.Results All patients were followed up for 6 to 13 months (averaged 11 months).X-ray examination showed bony fusion in the fusion segments without loosening/breakage of internal fixation or interbody fusion sinking.Except for 1 patient having grade A according to American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) criteria enjoyed no recovery after the operation,the remaining patients enjoyed good improvement.The postoperative average Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) scale scores were significantly higher than those before surgery; the postoperative average JOA scale scores and recovery ratio of JOA in patients received surgery within 72 h of injury were obviously higher than those in patients received surgery over 72 h of injury (P＜0.05).Conclusion Early anterior titanium mesh combined with cage and locking plate operation can make acute cervical disc herniation patients with spinal cord injury get rapid improvement and restoration; the earlier the operation time,the better the recovery degree; surgery can make cervical operation section obtain immediate stability,fusion and clinical effects are satisfied.