Evaluation of acute surgical intervention in traumatic paraplegia

A retrospective study was conducted over a two-year period of 95 consecutive admissions for traumatic paraplegia. The average age was 32 years. Seventy-two (76%) of these patients had acute surgical intervention. Fifty had Harrington rod placement with posterior fusion, 10 had additional laminectomy and one had rodding and anterior fusion. Seven laminectomies (alone) were performed at other hospitals. For those with rodding and/or fusion, rehabilitation stay was 70 days; for those with no surgery, 81 days. This difference was not statistically significant. However, when days of acute medical/surgical and rehabilitation hospitalization were combined, those having spinal surgery of any kind had a significantly shorter stay than those not having surgery (95 vs. 136 days). Complications were significantly greater in the patients who underwent internal fixation surgery. The neurological condition did not appear to be jeopardized by rodding and fusion.