2022 Volume 13 Issue 2 Pages 119-125
Introduction: Lower cervical spine fracture-dislocations may cause severe paralysis and have a significant influence on daily life and function. Various reports have evaluated factors involved in the improvement of paralysis. This study aimed to reveal the factors involved in the improvement of paralysis in surgically treated patients for lower cervical spine fracture-dislocations.
Methods: Fifteen patients who underwent surgery after the diagnosis of lower cervical spine fracture-dislocations, and would be available for follow-ups for more than 6 months, were classified into two groups, one with improved paralysis and the other without paralysis improvement. Age, time from injury to reduction, time from injury to surgery, AIS, dislocation distance of injury vertebral bodies, disc spinal canal occupancy, and SLIC score were compared between the two groups. The mean postoperative follow-up period was 10.5 months (from 6 to 41 months). This study is a retrospective study.
Results: There were 6 patients in the improved group and 9 patients in the nonimprovement group. The only significant difference between the 2 groups was the time from injury to reduction, which was significantly shorter in the paralysis improvement group (p = 0.027). In particular, patients who were able to reduce within 12 hours from injury were significantly more likely to improve their paralysis. There were no significant differences in the other items examined.
Conclusions: Based on the results of this study, as described in previous reports, it was concluded that early dislocation reduction may improve the prognosis of paralysis.
