[Fixation of cervical spine with interspinous wiring and autologous bone grafting]

Thirty-two patients with acute cervical spine trauma were treated at Municipal Hospital Instituto Dr. José Frota, in Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil, from January 1996 to May 1997. We performed posterior spinal stabilization with interspinous wiring and autologous bone grafting when the patients with cervical spine trauma presented dislocations and rupture of the posterior ligamentous complex. The results in the period of one year according to Frankel's functional scale indicate that among the patients with some degree of neurological lesion in the entrance, 11 improved, 1 worsened and 1 died of respiratory tract infection. There was not worsening in none of the 12 patients that presented absence of neurological lesion in the admission. Our data emphasize that the method is effective, safe and accessible.