Between June, 1979, and March, 1981, 54 patients with acute cervical spinal trauma were treated in the Spinal Injuries Center. Fiftythree of 54 patients were treated with early spinal operation. Neurological impairment using Frankel classification system was compared at admission to follow-up examination.
Nineteen of 54 patients with neurological defecit were unchanged at follow-up. The other patients were improved at follow-up examination but comparison between the non-operated cases reported by Frankel and our reported cases revealed no significant difference within neurological recovery. Early spinal operation within 24 hours did not influence outcome of neurological function except recovery of injured cervical segment. If neurological recovery of cervical spinal cord injuries expect, spinal operation must perform within a few hours after injury.
