Traumatic lesions of the lower cervical spine in Poland

From 1965 through 1990 the Spinal Department of the Metropolitan Rehabilitation Center in Konstancin provided treatment to 1330 patients with spinal injury in the C5-T1 area admitted to hospital in the early post-traumatic period. The most common causes of injury were falls from a horse cart, diving, and road accidents, in that order. This paper presents an analysis of the dependencies between the degree of spinal cord injury and the mechanism of spinal injury, as well as the results of conservative and surgical treatment. The most serious lesions of the spinal cord were those following spinal injuries of a crush character and dislocations by a flexion mechanism. The injuries with the best prognosis were typical compression fractures of the vertebrae. Significant neurologic improvement was obtained in over 50% of patients. Improvement was greatest and most frequent in patients who received surgical treatment.