Therapeutic strategy for traumatic instability of subaxial cervical spine

Background A simple, safe and effective therapeutic strategy for traumatic instability of the subaxial cervical spine, as well as its prognostic assessment, is still controversial. Methods The therapeutic options for 83 patients of traumatic instability of the subaxial cervical spine, whose average age was 35 years, were determined, according to the Allen-Ferguson classification, general health and concomitant traumatic conditions, neurological function, position of compression materials, concomitant traumatic disc herniation/damage, concomitant locked-facet dislocation, the involved numbers and position, and the patients' economic conditions. An anterior, posterior or combination approach was used to decompress and reconstruct the cervical spine. No operations with an anterior-posterior-anterior approach were performed. Results The average follow-up was three years and nine months. Distraction-flexion and compression-flexion were the most frequent injury subtypes. There were 46, 28 and 9 cases of anterior, posterior and combination operations, respectively. The average score of the Japanese Orthopaedics Association, visual analog scale and American Spinal Cord Injury Association (ASIA) motor index improved from 11.2, 7.8 and 53.5, respectively, before operation, to 15.3, 2.6 and 67.8, respectively, at final follow-up. For incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI), the average ASIA neurological function scale was improved by 1-2 levels. Patients with complete SCI had no neurological recovery, but recovery of nerve root function occurred to different extents. After surgery, radiological parameters improved to different extents. Fusion was achieved in all patients and 12 developed complications. Conclusions The best surgical strategy should be determined by the type of subaxial cervical injury, patients' general health, local pathological anatomy and neurological function.