Atteinte médullaire cervicale post-traumatique sans lésion osseuse du rachis chez l’adulte : analyse de neuf cas consécutifs

Preliminary Findings After Nonoperative Management of Traumatic Cervical Spinal Cord Injury on a Background of Degenerative Disc Disease: Providing Optimum Patient Care and Costs Saving in a Nigerian Setting

OBJECTIVE

We assessed the hypothesis that nonoperative management would be a viable treatment option for patients with underlying degenerative disease who have traumatic cervical spinal cord injury (TCSI) without neurological deterioration and/or spinal instability during hospitalization.

METHODS

Data were collected prospectively from 2011 to 2016. All the patients had been treated nonoperatively with hard cervical collar immobilization. The clinical parameters assessed included the Frankel grade at presentation and discharge, the occurrence of deep vein thrombosis, urinary tract infection, sphincter dysfunction, and pressure sores. The radiographic data collected included magnetic resonance imaging signal cord changes. P ≤ 0.05 represented a significant association between the Frankel grade at presentation and the outcome parameters.

RESULTS

A total of 28 patients were included in the present study. Of the patients who had presented with Frankel grade B, 85.71% had improved to a higher grade, 90.91% of the patients with Frankel grade C had improved to a higher grade, and 14.29% of the patients with Frankel grade D had improved to Frankel grade E. All the patients had satisfactory spinal stability, as evidenced by dynamic radiographs, after treatment.

CONCLUSION

The findings from the present study have shown that nonoperative management can result in improved neurological outcomes for patients with underlying degenerative disease who have experienced TCSI without evidence of neurological deterioration and spinal instability. The Frankel grade at presentation was significantly associated with outcome parameters such as the neurological outcome on discharge and the occurrence of urinary tract infection. The results from the present study could be helpful to neurological surgeons in rural and other low-resource settings because the cost savings realized by nonoperative treatment will not sacrifice the provision of adequate care to their patients.

Early presentation of traumatic cervical disc herniation with neurologic deficit and without an adjacent bone lesion

AIM OF THE STUDY

The purpose of this study was to explore clinical features and the operational opportunity of traumatic cervical disc herniation.

METHOD

Patients with cervical spine injury (413) were retrospectively reviewed. Six patients with neurological deficits were identified to have disc herniation without adjacent bone lesion. The diagnosis was confirmed by MRI. The Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) score was used to assess the severity of clinical symptoms. Different grading systems have been used in analyzing various stages of herniated cervical discs. All patients underwent anterior cervical decompression, insertion of autologous iliac crest graft, and fixation with cervical plate.

RESULTS

The causes of injury were road traffic accidents in four patients and sport and domestic accidents in one patient each. There were five patients with single intervertebral disc herniation and one patient with double. Pre-operative JOA score was 14 for three patients, the remaining three patients scored 10, 6, and 3 respectively. At final follow-up, the score was 17 for four patients and 14 for two patients.

DISCUSSION

Traumatic cervical disc herniation with neurologic deficit and without adjacent bone lesion is a rare condition. MRI is the golden examination to confirm diagnosis. Early recognition is essential for appropriate therapy and to minimize the extent of neurological deficit.

CONCLUSION

The MRI is mandatory in diagnosing different types of traumatic herniated cervical disc. Discectomy and anterior cervical interbody fusion using autologous iliac crest graft are the treatment options.

Spinal cord injury without radiographic abnormality (SCIWORA) in adults: MRI type predicts early neurologic outcome

OBJECTIVES

The present study aimed to analyse the clinical and neuroimaging features of a consecutive series of adult patients with spinal cord injury without radiographic abnormality (SCIWORA) receiving early magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and to apply the recently proposed MRI classification system.

METHODS

Grade of neurologic impairment at admission and discharge was reported according to the American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale (AIS). A detailed analysis and categorisation of the extra- and intramedullary MRI findings was performed, and the relationship between imaging type and neurological outcome was described.

RESULTS

Twenty-six adult patients (17 male and 9 female) with SCIWORA were identified (mean age of 52 years). The distribution of the initial AIS grade was 8% A (n=2), 19% B (n=5), 31% C (n=8) and 42% D (n=11) at admission and 15% (n=4) C, 58% (n=15) D and 27% (n=7) E at discharge, respectively. Type I SCIWORA was found in 23% (n=6) and type II in 77% (n=20) (IIa: 0%, IIb: 25%, IIc: 75%). The mean improvement of AIS grade in patients with type I lesions was 1.5 (median 1, range 1-3) and 0.9 (median 1, range 0-3) in type II.

CONCLUSION

The findings underline the prognostic role of early MRI for adult patients with SCIWORA and support the use of the recently introduced MRI classification system.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Prognostic study, level III.