Although Dr. Lawson specializes in cerebrovascular surgery & endovascular neurosurgery, he also performs complex cervical and lumbar spine surgery. Roughly 45% of his practice is related to brain tumor surgery and cerebrovascular/endovascular neurosurgery (brain aneurysms, stroke, AVMs, and carotid disease). The other 55% is general neurosurgery, including complex cervical and lumbar spine surgery. In fact, Dr. Lawson performs much of the complex cervical spine surgery at TMH.
Recently, a young man presented as a trauma alert to the hospital with a suspected spinal cord injury. He was involved in an accident and was unable to use his arms or legs. His initial CT scan of the cervical spine demonstrated a C4 burst fracture with central canal compromise. This is a complex fracture that resulted in a spinal cord injury.
An MRI was performed, which confirmed the degree of spinal cord compression and injury. It was felt that surgery was his most reasonable treatment option. Surgery would involve two procedures: an anterior cervical corpectomy and a posterior cervical stabilization.
In the images to the left, we can see the axial CT scan, which shows the C4 burst fracture, a lamina fracture, and central canal compromise.
The MRI image seen to the left (below the axial CT scan), shows some central spinal stenosis with edema of the spinal cord. The spinal cord is the gray structure in the middle of the image, running from top to bottom. There is white, haziness noted in the cord, which is spinal cord edema (this is indicative of a spinal cord injury). One can also appreciate how the fractured bone pushes into the spinal cord.
Clinically, this patient had a severe spinal cord injury, with the inability to move his arms or legs upon arrival to the hospital.
After the MRI study, he was taken to the operating room for surgery. This consisted of two stages, anterior and posterior. In the anterior stage, a small incision made on the front of the neck and a C4 corpectomy was performed. In this procedure, the fractured vertebral body is removed, along with the disc above and below the fracture. This is done to take all of the pressure off of the front of the spinal cord and remove the fractured bone. Next, a bone strut (cadaver bone — fibula strut graft) is placed in the defect to reconstruct the spinal column and allow the neck to bear weight. A
cervical plate is then placed from C3 to C5 to hold the strut in place.
Next, the patient was flipped into the prone position (face down) so that the second phase of the procedure can be performed on the back of the neck. A posterior cervical stabilization with lateral mass screws and rods was performed from C3 to C6. In addition, a cervical laminectomy was performed at C3 to C5 to ensure decompression of the spinal cord.
The final result is the x-ray seen below. In this x-ray you can see that the C4 fracture has been removed, a bone strut is in its place, there is an anterior cervical plate (on the front of the spine) as well as posterior screws & rods (on the back of the spine).
This patient did very well after surgery, and regained partial use of the right arm and leg. He was transitioned to rehabilitation. Clearly, he has a long road of rehabilitation in front of him for his spinal cord injury, and we are excited to see how he is doing at the six month interval.
Dr. Lawson performs numerous cervical spine procedures, including:
- ACDF (Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion) – a common procedure for treatment of herniated cervical discs, typically causing neck and arm pain.
- Posterior Cervical Laminectomy and Fusion – for treatment of cervical stenosis and cervical myelopathy.
- C1-2 Stabilization – for instability, fracture, or compression at C1 or C2. Most commonly, this is for treatment of C2 fractures or rheumatoid arthritis with compression of the spinal cord at C1-2.
- O-C Stabilization – for instability, fracture, or compression at the craniocervical junction.
- Complex cervical spine procedures (such as the C4 corpectomy and posterior stabilization described above) for the treatment of deformity or fracture.
Neck pain? Cervical spine fracture? Click here to contact Dr. Lawson and make an office appointment.