[Gunshot wounds of the spine and spinal cord.]

The authors summarize the existing findings on the treatment of gunshot wounds of the spine and spinal cord which in their country have become an important cause of mortality and morbidity. Their own experience prove the findings of the authors, i.e. that the seriousness of the initial neurological condition can be hardly influenced and an urgent surgical decompression does not improve statistical prospects of the correction in any type of neurological deficit either, with the exception of cauda ae-quina syndrome. They point out that occurrence of complications such as infections, liquor fistula or instability is from the statistical viewpoint significantly higher in patients operated on. They discuss the role of a routine antibiotic prophylaxis and corticotherapy.The stability of spine is usually not impaired by gunshot wounds and as a rule it does not reqiure stabilization by implants.Therefore they recommend to consider the occurrence of instability on a caseby-case basis. Key words: penetrating spinal injury, spinal injury.