INFLUENCE OF MINOR TRAUMA ON SURGICAL RESULTS IN PATIENTS WITH CERVICAL OPLL

This study was designed to evaluate the relationship between minor tra uma and surgical results of cervical ossification of the posterior lon gitudinal ligament (OPLL), focusing on static compressive and dynamic factors contributing to cord compression plus the type of attendant OP LL. Of the 91 patients treated surgically, 26 had sustained minor trau ma (injury group), and the other 65 had no trauma (noninjury group). T he pre-/postoperative JOA scores and recovery ratio for the injury gro up were significantly lower than those for the noninjury group. In the segmental, localized, and mixed types, which had good ranges of motio n of the cervical spine, the recovery ratios of the injury group were significantly lower than those of the noninjury group. In the continuo us type, which had a poor range of motion and severe spinal cord compr ession, there was no significant difference in the recovery ratio betw een the injury and noninjury groups. Thus, dynamic factors may play an important role in neurologic deterioration after minor trauma in pati ents with segmental, mixed, and localized cervical OPLL.