Eight cases of traumatic cervical spinal cord injuries were treated by anterior spinal fusion. All cases were male from fifteen to sixtyseven years old. Acute and chronic injuries were each four cases. All cases except one showed incomplete paralysis at the operation.
Roentgenologic findings showed luxation in two cases, subluxation and insupportability in three cases, compression fracture in one case, and in two cases no significant changes. In the large majority of the patients considerable improvement of neurological signs and symptoms were obtained after surgery, but one with complete quadriplegia showed no improvement in motor and sensory function.
So it shows that the anterior decompression by disc and spur excision gives far better results and higher salvage rate in these serious injuries than we have been able to accomplish by therapeutic program employed in the past.
