title: Delayed surgical intervention in central cord syndrome with cervical stenosis.
abstract: Study Design Review of the literature. Objective It is generally accepted that surgical treatment is necessary for central cord syndrome (CCS) with an underlying cervical stenosis. However, the surgical timing for decompression is controversial in spondylotic cervical CCS. The purpose of this study is to review the results of early and delayed surgery in patients with spondylotic cervical CCS. Methods MEDLINE was searched for English-language articles on CCS. There were 1,653 articles from 1940 to 2012 regarding CCS, 5 of which dealt with the timing of surgery for spondylotic cervical CCS. Results All five reports regarding the surgical timing of spondylotic cervical CCS were retrospective. Motor improvement, functional independence measures, and walking ability showed similar improvement in early and late surgery groups in the studies with follow-up longer than 1 year. However, greater improvement was seen in the early surgery group in the studies with follow-up shorter than 1 year. The complication rates did not show a difference between the early and late surgery groups. However, there are controversies regarding the length of intensive care unit stay or hospital stay for the two groups. Conclusions There was no difference in motor improvement, functional independence, walking ability, and complication rates between early and late surgery for spondylotic cervical CCS.
authors: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, Medical College of Hallym University, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea.
authors: Moon Soo
authors: MS
authors: Park
authors: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors: Seong-Hwan
authors: SH
authors: Moon
authors: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors: Hwan-Mo
authors: HM
authors: Lee
authors: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, Medical College of Hallym University, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea.
authors: Tae-Hwan
authors: TH
authors: Kim
authors: Department of Neurosurgery, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, Medical College of Hallym University, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea.
authors: Jae Keun
authors: JK
authors: Oh
authors: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, Medical College of Hallym University, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea.
authors: Bo-Kyung
authors: BK
authors: Suh
authors: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, Medical College of Hallym University, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea.
authors: Seung Jin
authors: SJ
authors: Lee
authors: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, BJC Institute of Health at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, United States.
authors: K Daniel
authors: KD
authors: Riew
keywords: central cord syndrome; cervical spine; surgical timing
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