[Effect of spinal cord and spinal injuries on the phagocytic activity of neutrophils]

Study of neutrophil phagocytic activity in injuries to the spinal cord and spine and in damage to the spine without involvement of the spinal cord showed that injuries to the spinal cord have no specific effect on this activity. True, the phagocytic reaction is inhibited in the first 2-3 weeks after the trauma both in patients with injury to the spinal cord and spine and in those with injury only to the spine. In later periods after the trauma, however, with the neurological status remaining the same, the values of the phagocytic reaction do not differ from those in healthy persons. The level at which the spinal cord is injured hardly affects the activity of phagocytosis. The examination was conducted in 117 patients with spinal fractures 94 of whom had also sustained injury to the spinal cord.