A Clinical Analysis of Treatment of Traumatic Cervical Fracture and Dislocation

ABSTRACT

The authors analyzed 52 patients with traumatic cervical fracture and dislocation admitted to the department of neurosurgery, Gyeongsang National University Hospital between July, 1989 and December, 1993. The most common age group was 21-30 years old, and 46 were male. The most frequent cause of injury was motor vehicle accident. High cervical injuries were 11 cases and mid-low cervical injuries were 41 cases. 34 cases had surgical intervention by anterior approach with bone graft only(5), anterior approach with bone graft and instrumentation(9), posterior approach with wiring and bone graft(18) and total laminectomy(2). The others had conservative treatment and immobilized by traction(9), Halo-vest(8) or neck collar(1). The average post of immobilization of conservatively treated patients was 9.7weeks, anterior approach without instrumentation was 9 weeks and posterior approach was 5.4 weeks, but patients who treated by anterior approach with instrumentation keep soft collar only. At final follow-up, no significant differences were noted between surgically and conservatively treated group but initial neurologic state correlates with prognosis, independent of modality of treatment. Thus the surgical intervention does not significantly influence the prognosis of the patient but shortens the duration of postoperative immobilization.