Efficacy of spinal pia mater incision and laminoplasty combined with internal fixation for old spinal cord injury.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the clinical efficacy of incising spinal pia mater to relieve pressure and unilateral open-door laminoplasty with internal screw fixation for treatment of the dated spinal cord injury.


METHODS
From March, 2009 to July, 2010, 16 cases with chronic cervical cord injury underwent spinal dura mater incision and unilateral open-door laminoplasty with internal screw fixation. Nerve functions of pre- and postoperation were evaluated by Frankel classification and the Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) scale.The improvement rate of JOA score at the indicated time was recorded.


RESULTS
Postoperative Frankel classification rating of 16 patients improved obviously.JOA scores at the 1st month, 3rd month, 6th month, and 12th month after surgery were 7.9 ± 2.3, 8.5 ± 1.6, 8.9 ± 2.1, and 12.4 ± 2.5, respectively, and significantly increased compared with that prior to surgery (5.5 ± 0.6). At the end of follow-up period, JOA score was significantly higher than that of pre-treatment (P<0.05). The recovery was relatively rapid during the first 3 months following the surgery, then entered a platform period.


CONCLUSIONS
It is effective for patients with dated spinal cord injury to undergo spinal decompression and laminoplasty.
Department of Orthopaedics, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University,Guangzhou 510632, China.
Jiao
J
Gen-Long
Li
L
Zhi-Zhong
Tan
T
Tan
Pan
P
Yong-Qin
Zhou
Z
Zhi-Gang
D000328:Adult; D001863:Bone Screws; D019299:Decompression, Surgical / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005593:Fracture Fixation, Internal; D006801:Humans; D007796:Laminectomy / Q000379:methods*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010841:Pia Mater / Q000601:surgery*; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*