Mid-Term Outcomes Of Subaxial Cervical Traumatic Injuries in Assiut University Trauma Center

Injuries to the subaxial cervical spine can be bony, discoligamentous or a combination of both. Cervical spine trauma is common resulting from high energy trauma such as falling from height and motor vehicle accident . The subaxial cervical spine is a common site of cervical injury with more than 50 % of injuries being located between C5 and C7 MRI is superior to CT scans for evaluating the spinal cord, nerve roots, disc, and ligamentous structures in the cervical spine There are a couple of classification systems that have been devised The first is the Subaxial Injury Classification System (SLIC). This classification stratifies the type of fracture, the competency of the DLC, and the patient's neurologic status with numerical values to determine the course of treatment.

A second classification system is the AO Spine Subaxial Cervical Spine Injury Classification. The AO Spine SCICS classifies injuries based on 4 parameters: injury morphology, facet involvement, neurological status, and case-specific modifiers Patients with fractures deemed unstable or neurologic compromise should undergo decompression and stabilization. Intervention within 24 hours of injury leads to better improvement in ASIA scores .

Although we receive and treat a large number of patients with various subaxial cervical traumatic injuries in Assiut University Hospital each year, there is uncertainty about the midterm outcome of the treatment we provide.

In this study, The investigators will assess the mid-term outcomes of all patients with subaxial cervical traumatic injuries who complete a minimum one year follow up regardless of the neurological status or treatment type used.